The Path To Redemption
by Bill K
Summary: A former senshi from a dead world comes to Earth looking for Usagi, and revenge.
1. Discovered

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 1: "Discovered"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

* * *

Sailor Moon and all related characters are (c)2010 by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha and Toei Animation and are used without permission, but with respect. Story is (c)2010 by Bill K.

* * *

Usagi Chiba was sitting in her alcove studio, diligently working on page 6 of her latest manga assignment. Though the romantic spy thriller still didn't really capture her imagination, she persevered in trying to bring the script she was working from to visual life. She didn't really have much choice. So far, no one was interested in "Fire Princess Rika" and this assignment was a paying job.

Besides, if she quit, Luna would yell at her.

"Usako, I'm home!" came the call from the other room, just after Usagi heard the front door open.

Resisting the impulse to jump to her feet, fly out into the living room and tackle her husband, Usagi instead kept drawing the panel before her until the picture was finished. This particular panel was shaping up nicely and Usagi didn't want to stop until it was finished. She felt Mamoru's presence behind her. Then she felt his lips nuzzle the back of her neck. The shiver up her spine forced her to stop drawing.

"I'm glad you're home, Mamo-Chan," Usagi said, reaching up and drawing her husband's face into her line of sight. "How was your day?"

"Oodles and oodles of sick people," Mamoru replied. "No question about it: I'm going to have to take on a partner or start turning patients away."

"Word's gotten around about how perfect you are," Usagi grinned. Then her features turned stern. "None of your patients are young and pretty, are they?"

"Don't start that again," he warned. "Page six? You were on page three yesterday, weren't you?"

"Yes!" Usagi squealed. "I got that and two other pages done today! And most of page six, too! Mamo-Chan, it was flowing out of me today! I didn't want to stop, it was going so well!"

"So I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to get dinner?" Mamoru asked.

"Dinner!" gasped Usagi. "Oh, Mamo-Chan, I'm sorry!"

"It's OK," he smiled, kissing her on the head. "We can go out to eat tonight. I don't mind showing you off every so often. We can certainly afford it with all the business that's coming my way." He straightened up and held out his hand for Usagi to take. "Why don't you get dressed formally and we'll hit some expensive club."

"Do you mean it, Mamo-Chan?" Usagi exclaimed happily.

"Sure. Maybe we could do a little close dancing, too."

"It sounds great!" she squealed. Then her expression changed to one of horror. "I've got to get cleaned up and changed!"

With that, she scurried out of the alcove and toward the bathroom, nearly bowling Mamoru over. Watching her from the door was Luna. The cat turned to Mamoru.

"And I assume the cat is supposed to fend for herself tonight?" she asked pointedly.

"Sorry, Luna," Mamoru grinned. "Three's a crowd. I'll put out some tuna for you before we leave - - and there's always the television."

"Don't mind me, Mamoru," Luna smirked. "I'm just having you on. Enjoy yourselves. Goodness knows you both deserve it. Just let me know where you two end up if you both don't make it home."

The couple ended up in a ballroom dinner club that served high-class cuisine at high-class prices. Mamoru wore evening clothes while Usagi wore a blue satin sleeveless gown and white opera gloves, an ensemble she'd bought for special occasions with Mamoru's approval. Silver teardrop earrings, a present from Mamoru from last Christmas, dangled from her lobes. Her long blonde hair was stacked atop her head and held with jade combs, presents from Christmas 2006, baring her neck and making clumsy little Usagi look somewhat sophisticated. A woman sang torch songs from a stage as a band played. The couple dined on Kobe beef and steamed vegetables.

"You know, Mamo-Chan, I was thinking about Daddy today," Usagi began between bites.

"Has his situation changed?" Mamoru asked.

"No, Daddy's still working that 'stringy' job for Tokyo Shimbun."

"'Stringer', Usako."

"Whatever," she fumed. "Anyway, I was thinking: I've had to help him out twice now with set up pictures of Sailor Moon in action. I can't keep doing that. And anyway, Daddy hates being a stringy - - stringer - - whatever." She took another bite and Mamoru noticed she was further along with her steak than he was with his. "So I thought what if I could find a way for Daddy to take publicity pictures for the senshi? It seems like everybody wants pictures of us."

Mamoru thought that over. "Well, he's certainly qualified for it. And he might like it better than chasing down news. But that would mean setting up some sort of marketing enterprise to sell the photos he takes, then pay him from the proceeds. Do you know anything about such an operation?"

"No," she squeaked. "That's why I was hoping you'd do it."

"I don't know anything about publicity and marketing," Mamoru gasped incredulously.

"Well I sure don't," Usagi whimpered. "And I thought it was such a good idea, too."

"It's a good idea," Mamoru assured her. "Sailor Moon is just going to have to go to a professional and get an organization set up."

"Hey, maybe Mina-Chan can help with that!" Usagi exclaimed. "She knows a lot about publicity!"

"And she could probably recommend someone to handle the enterprise for you," Mamoru nodded. "I think this might just work."

Usagi beamed at him and it made Mamoru feel good. Nothing made him happier than seeing his wife happy.

* * *

The offices of "Lotus Entertain You Productions", the producers of the television series "Island Princess" among others, were in the thirty-fourth floor of an office building in Roppongi. The floor housed offices for three producers and their assistants, a publicity department, a marketing department, a script research department and a mail room, as well as the offices of the two partners who founded the enterprise.

Approaching the executive assistant outside of the company head's office were Minako Aino and her agent, Takashi Shiro. The pair had been politely summoned to the producers' office.

"So how much of a raise do you think I'm going to get?" Minako asked with a grin of avarice.

"Minako, honey, I've told you this isn't about a raise," Takashi reiterated. He'd told her that the entire way there, but it seemed to bounce off of the woman's blonde locks. "You've still got three years on your contract. They've got no reason to give you an increase."

"Takashi, it's a top ten show," argued Minako. "And my CD sales are through the roof. And my tour killed. Why wouldn't they give me a raise?"

"Because they still have you under the terms of your original contract," Takashi said again.

"Well it would be a real nice thing to do," Minako proposed.

"These are TV producers," Takashi replied. "Where does 'nice' enter into the equation?"

Minako couldn't come up with a retort for that before they arrived at the assistant's desk. After a short wait in the outer office, the pair were ushered into the office. Inside were the two owners of "Lotus Entertain You". Yuki Tanaka was the idea man. He was fifty-three, heavy set and short with a disarming smile that hid observant eyes. He'd started producing anime for overseas markets, then diverged into television with the sale of "Lucky Carp Fisherman Jinjo". His partner, Kentaro Oburi, was the money man. Tall and thin, with a common, quiet face and eyes hidden behind thick glasses, he was the image of a person who worked better with numbers than with people. As Minako and Takashi entered, Yuki rose from behind the desk to greet them. Kentaro stayed in the background and stared grimly. Minako instantly got the impression from him that this wasn't about a pay raise for her.

"Nice to see you again, Shiro-San," Yuki nodded, bowing to him with over-wrought congeniality. "And Aino-San - - the returns from the tour are all in. You did a splendid job! The tour was the talk of Japan!"

"Yeah, that's the vibe I got," Minako smiled. "So, ready to give me my own feature film?"

Everyone laughed, even though Minako had only been partially kidding. Everyone except Kentaro. He merely shifted uncomfortably. Minako picked it up immediately.

"Well, we're here, Tanaka-Sama," Takashi ventured. "What exactly did you need to discuss?"

The joy on Yuki's face dimmed. He turned to his desk and picked up a file folder. Turning back to them, he handed the file to Takashi.

"Recently one of our publicity people found these on the internet," Yuki began. "They're . . . well . . ."

"Hardly appropriate for the star of a family comedy that we produce," Kentaro interjected. The man seemed quite disapproving.

Minako peered over Takashi's shoulder at the folder. Inside it were photos. They were photos of Minako, obviously from several years ago. In the photos, Minako was naked.

* * *

On rounds at the hospital, Ami exited a patient's room and entered the hall. This patient was a seventy-six year old man suffering from back problems. They were the accumulation of roughly fifty years of manual labor and his lower lumbar region was arthritic. There wasn't a lot Ami could do for him as far as a long-term cure. All she could do was make him comfortable, relieve the pain as best she could and get him to where he could walk again. It wasn't as much as she wished she could do for him, but his gratitude over both her efforts and her sympathetic consideration were heartening.

In the hall, she noticed the hospital cleaning staff was finishing cleaning one of the rooms. The room was empty now, but Ami distinctly recalled a patient there earlier. And she did recall hearing a Code Blue summons while she was working with one of her other patients. Her curiosity getting the better of her, as it so often did, Ami walked over to the nurse's station.

"Hi, Dr. Mizuno," the head nurse greeted her.

"Hello, Nurse Azuma," Ami nodded. "What happened in 1206?"

"Cardiac arrest," Azuma related.

"Was the patient here for cardiac problems?"

Azuma nodded. "Male, 54, diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia. I guess we didn't get to him fast enough."

"Was there enough time for CPR?" Ami asked.

"Dr. Yamaguchi was right there. He'd just administered the anti-arrhythmic when the patient went into arrest. They tried, but it wasn't enough."

"Dr. Yamaguchi was attending?" Ami mused. Dr. Yamaguchi was the senior physician for the department. He had thirty years in medicine and was respected by everyone. There were some hints of impending retirement, but nothing had been confirmed and Yamaguchi himself dismissed any notion to that effect.

Just then more attendants began moving a patient into the newly vacated room. Ami glanced at the process, then noticed Nurse Azuma had a patient folder in her hand.

"I think you were next in the hopper, Dr. Mizuno," Azuma smiled. Ami took the patient folder.

"Yes, I believe I was. Ah, well, what's one more patient," Ami surrendered.

As she entered the hospital room, Ami quickly reviewed the history that had come up from the emergency room. The patient was an eight year old boy who had fallen from the top of a brick wall. In addition to a broken arm and multiple bruises and contusions, there was a slight laceration of the boy's right kidney. He would be in the hospital for a day or two for observation to make sure no complications set in. It seemed simple enough. Ami entered the room and found the boy's mother berating him for causing so much trouble. The doctor smothered a smile.

Just then, Ami noticed a drug vial laying on the floor. Clearly the cleaning crew had missed it. Conscientiously she stooped down and picked it up. Moving to throw it in the trash can near the bed, something in the can caught her eye. Ami bent down and picked it up. It was another drug vial, empty and discarded, that must have been used during the cardiac arrest that had previously occupied the room. Ami examined the bottles closely.

"Both Lidocaine," Ami thought, puzzled. "That's an anti-arrhythmic, which would make sense for treating a cardiac arrhythmia. But why would you need two. . ." Ami looked up from the bottle at nothing in particular. "A double dosage of Lidocaine could induce cardiac arrest. Surely Dr. Yamaguchi has to be aware of this."

* * *

The world was once known as Sarhari. It was shiny and green and a monument to what could be accomplished by humanoids. Lush flora once co-existed with massive stone structures that reached into the sky and decorated the landscape artfully instead of like a gaping wound. Animal life was abundant, due to the philosophy among the humanoid denizens that all life was sacred and all living creatures had a place on the planet. Among the humanoids, all had lived in harmony. Everyone was encouraged to excel at art or science. All competed in athletics. Physical, mental and spiritual perfection was the goal, for everyone wished to emulate she who had been their shining example of all of it: Queen Triumphant. If there was a civilization closer to perfection in the universe than the one which resided upon Sarhari, that civilization was unknown.

It was all gone now. Sarhari today was a planet of ruined structures. It was a nearly dead world, bereft of nearly all humanoid and animal life. Only now the flora was just beginning to peak through the rubble and gouged soil to reclaim the planet and sow the seeds of life again. Perhaps, in a million years, Sarhari might once again be some semblance of what it had been - - before she came.

Emerging from the crumbling ruins of what had been the central store of knowledge on Sarhari was the sole survivor of Sarhari - - the sole survivor of "her". The creature was a woman, tall and erect with tight curls of black hair cascading down her back. Her face was vaguely heart-shaped, with prominent cheekbones, a long nose, full lips and penetrating ruby eyes that could hold you like a fist around your throat. Her figure was broad-shouldered and athletic, suggesting that she could rip your arm from your body if she chose. But it was also graced with elegant curves and soft skin that allowed her to alternate between warrior and seductress, athlete and queen.

The woman sat on a smooth stone that had once been part of a grand staircase leading up to the central store. She assumed a lotus position and let her head drift back as her eyes closed. Physically at peace, she reached out with her mind into the heavens, searching for a trace. Once she had been called Queen Triumphant, and before that Sailor Valiant. It seemed like yesterday, but it was an illusion of her circumstances. In reality, it was eighteen years ago - - eighteen years since she'd had friends, loved ones, a home and a life.

For it was eighteen years ago that death in the guise of a woman had come unto them. She arrived on Sarhari in her golden armor and her wrist bands that spat death and damnation. She had her avatars of destruction by her side to do her foul deeds and slice through the population like a scythe through wheat. What were their names again? It hadn't been that long, for her. Platinum Fox and Tin Nyanko, Gold Wolf and Iron Mouse; it was so hard to believe that they'd been senshi like her. As their leader had been, Sailor Galaxia.

Even now, thinking of Galaxia's cold, ruthless manner made Sailor Valiant's blood boil. The manner in which Galaxia struck down her fellow senshi and ripped their star seeds from them haunted her. The shrieks of agony her friends cried out tortured her even now. And her utter inability to stop Galaxia from destroying everything that was precious to her pained the woman once known as Queen Triumphant, pained her like a hot iron impaling her. The philosophy of Sarhari was one of peace and co-existence and Queen Triumphant had embraced it and championed it. But at the moment, the once and former queen was having a hard time embracing it still.

Better she had died with everyone else. But her friend, Sailor Resolute, had used her senshi attack to project Queen Triumphant sixteen years into the future in a desperate attempt to keep the queen out of Galaxia's hands. In the two years since she emerged from the warp into the remains of Sarhari, the corpse Galaxia slew, the once queen had come to realize just how much she had lost and just how alone she was. Her people were gone. Her civilization was gone. Her friends were gone.

Kalen Tu was gone. Never again would she feel his hand upon her face, his lips upon her mouth, his body entwined with hers, his soul merged with her soul. It was all gone. There was only one thing left for her. And she would search for it if it took the rest of her life.

At once the woman's eyes opened. She stared out across the rubble of what had been her world, but she saw something quite different. What she saw was a world not unlike her own and yet totally different. On this world was a woman with gold-spun hair gathered in two balls atop her head. She sensed the power this woman possessed, and she sensed more. It was faint, but it was there. It was what she had been searching for these past two years.

The once and former queen stood up and, with a moment's thought, transformed herself into a ball of blue energy, then rocketed into space. Her destination was Earth and the woman with the unique hair and unique presence. This woman would be her chance at the only thing left to her: Revenge.

Continued in Chapter 2


	2. Shades Of Truth

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 2: "Shades Of Truth"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The hospital cafeteria at lunch was busy with staff and with the friends and family of patients. Most tables were occupied with people dining, some conversing together about work, some about anything but work, and some about their shared loved one's condition. Ami Mizuno held her tray close to her body so as not to risk getting jostled. She searched the cafeteria for a single table where she could read and eat in peace. However there was little solitary space the room could offer.

Just then, she spotted Dr. Yamaguchi eating at a table by himself. An impulse prodded her to sit with him, but she held back. This would be the first opportunity to speak with Dr. Yamaguchi since she found the two bottles of anti-arrhythmic the previous day. The implications of her discovery had disturbed her all evening. Yet was this a proper subject to broach over lunch, and with such a respected member of the hospital staff? That and her still chronic shyness made Ami hesitate. Finally her curiosity and sense of justice won out and she headed for the table.

"Pardon me, Dr. Yamaguchi," Ami ventured politely. "May I sit here?"

"Certainly," Yamaguchi nodded. He was in his sixties with graying black hair, skin that was beginning to weather and jowls forming around his mouth. But his eyes were still clear and his movements still firm. "You're that young doctor that everybody on the floor talks about, aren't you? Um. . ." and he searched his memory fruitlessly.

"Doctor Ami Mizuno," Ami offered.

"Yes, that's right!" he exclaimed. "Please forgive me. I'm terrible with names anymore. Too much new information tries to crowd into the brain and there isn't always room for it."

"It's understandable," Ami told him. "This is the first time we've actually met. Our schedules don't often cross. You still do a lot of second and third shift work."

"I don't mind it. Things are very peaceful on third shift. I actually prefer it, and I know a lot of the younger doctors don't, so it works out for everybody."

"It must be a bit of a burden for your family," Ami ventured.

Yamaguchi frowned. "No," he replied. "My children are off on their own and my wife and I are . . . no longer together."

"I apologize," Ami offered.

"You couldn't have known," he assured her. "So tell me, Dr., um. . ."

"Mizuno," Ami reminded him.

"Mizuno, yes," Yamaguchi nodded. "So how does someone as young as you are become as brilliant as you are?" Ami averted her gaze timidly. "No need for modesty. We've all heard stories of the amazing young doctor who is still in her twenties, but has the skill, cool and knowledge of someone twenty years her senior."

"Diligence and hard work is the only explanation I can offer, Dr. Yamaguchi," Ami explained. "I strive to do my best for every patient and to make myself the best physician I can to that end."

"Nice to hear," Yamaguchi said. "So many doctors today use medicine as a means to enrich themselves. They don't care about the profession other than as a means to an end. Healing has to be a vocation rather than an avocation."

"Yes, quite so," murmured Ami. She struggled for a few moments with what she had in mind.

"I knew a Mizuno once. Brilliant woman. Went into pediatrics. I think her name was Mizuno. It might be her married name," he began, then stopped suddenly. "Something troubling you, Doctor?" Yamaguchi asked, almost with fatherly concern. Ami hesitated for a moment.

"Dr. Yamaguchi," Ami began, "yesterday you had a cardiac patient who went into arrest."

"Yes, I remember it," Yamaguchi nodded. "Maybe if we had caught the aortal damage sooner, the poor man might have lived."

"You treated the arrhythmia with Lidocaine, correct?"

"Yes, that's a pretty common and accepted treatment of cardiac arrhythmia," Yamaguchi replied. "Why do you ask? Someone with your reputation should already know that."

"I was just curious: How much of a dose did your patient require?"Ami told him.

"Two cc's is the accepted dosage, injected cutaneously," Yamaguchi responded. "Clearly he should have gotten it a lot sooner. Maybe it could have helped him."

"Are you certain?" Ami asked.

"Yes, two cc's cutaneously," the doctor answered.

"Could anyone else have given him an injection?"

"No. The nurse that was there was monitoring his EKG rhythms. And I hadn't prescribed anything in his IV bags other than fluids." The elder doctor frowned. "Exactly what are you getting at, Doctor?"

Ami looked down. "I found two discarded vials of Lidocaine in the room when my patient was being moved in. Are you certain it isn't possible that you or someone else administered a second injection . . .?"

"No," Dr. Yamaguchi replied curtly.

"Even unintentionally?"

"No, Doctor. It's not possible."

"An overdose of Lidocaine could induce cardiac arrest in certain case types," Ami continued.

"That's why I would only give a patient the prescribed dosage," Yamaguchi argued.

"Logically," Ami looked up, less and less eager to pursue this with every moment, "that is inconsistent with the facts. There were two empty vials of Lidocaine in the room."

"The custodial crew must have missed one of the vials when they were cleaning earlier."

"That is possible," Ami nodded uncomfortably. "But given the events, the more logical conclusion is that the patient was accidentally overdosed . . ."

"I've heard enough of this," Yamaguchi said and stood up from the table. "You may be the latest, hottest thing, Doctor. And you may have an inhumanly high IQ and be a medical encyclopedia on legs, but one thing you do not have is over thirty years of experience in medicine."

"Doctor, this isn't meant as any disrespect toward you," Ami apologized.

"Perhaps you think that experience makes someone senile," Yamaguchi continued. People in the cafeteria were turning and gawking at them. "Or perhaps you just think that you know it all. Apparently one thing you don't seem to know is how to respect someone who is your senior."

"Doctor, a patient died," Ami protested. "I think that has to be the overriding concern here . . ."

"I know a patient died," the man hissed. "He was MY patient. But that does not mean that I don't know what I'm doing, Doctor. And it does not mean that I'm ready for the retirement home just yet."

With that, Dr. Yamaguchi stormed off, leaving Ami supremely embarrassed. But it in no way dissuaded her from thinking that there was still reason for concern.

* * *

Usagi waited at the door to the apartment Minako and Toshihiro shared, anticipating being let in. At that moment, it occurred to her that it might have been a good idea to call ahead and make sure they were home.

"Why do I always think of these things too late?" muttered the woman under her breath. Just then the door opened and Toshihiro greeted her.

"Usagi," Toshihiro smiled. He seemed glad to see her - - no, more than glad - - almost relieved. "Come in, please."

Usagi entered the apartment and was greeted by the clatter of books and boxes hitting the floor. Turning to the sound, she saw Minako's back end, clad only in panties, sticking out of a hall closet. Books and boxes were scattered on the floor around the closet where they had been strewn. Usagi turned to Toshihiro quizzically and got a pained response from the man.

"No, that's not it either!" barked Minako from inside the closet. Another box sailed out onto the floor.

"She's looking for something," Toshihiro explained.

"Mina-Chan?" Usagi ventured cautiously. Just then Minako burst from the closet with a box in her arms. She was wearing an old volleyball jersey and white socks on her feet.

"I knew it was in here some place!" Minako exclaimed triumphantly. "Oh, hi Usagi. Is something up?"

"No, I just wanted to ask your advice on something," Usagi replied, averting her gaze. "Mina-Chan, could you - - - put a skirt on?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Minako replied, remembering she'd just gotten out of bed. "Sorry. I got preoccupied with finding my old publicity portfolio."

"If you'd learn to file things in an orderly manner," Artemis said acidly as he walked by.

"CAN IT, HAIR BALL!" snapped Minako.

Minutes later, Minako was dressed and had the contents of the box spread out on a table. Toshihiro and Usagi looked over her shoulder. The contents were eight by ten photos of Minako from roughly age nineteen to twenty-one. They were a mixture of publicity photos she'd had taken, with her modeling various outfits and striking various poses, along with more candid shots of her striking more provocative poses in very tiny swim suits.

"Mina-Chan, those swimsuit pictures are awfully. . ." Usagi began, embarrassed.

"Just trying to get noticed," Minako told her. "You want to get the public's attention, you have to give it what it wants." She glanced up at Usagi. "I didn't mind. My looks have always been one of my main selling points. I didn't mind showing it off. The hot lights were the worst part of it - - and that photographer's assistant. Boy, he was a peeping little weasel." Minako suddenly stopped on one photo, of Minako in a red strapless bikini, draped suggestively across a blanket. "That's the one! Pull the other picture up, Toshi, just to be sure."

Toshihiro went on the computer and opened a picture file. Usagi gasped in alarm.

"M-Mina-Chan!" was her horrified response. On the computer screen was a picture of Minako with the exact same pose - - except Minako was naked. "You posed naked?"

"No, I didn't," bristled Minako. "Not that I didn't get offers. A girl starting out in show business, one of the first offers she gets is to pose naked. But I wouldn't do it." She eased back in her chair. "It was tempting. Both the money and the publicity would have been nice. But I knew I was going to make it, and something like this can only come back and bite you in the butt some day."

"Then where did that come from?" Usagi inquired.

"It's been 'shopped'," Toshihiro replied. When he saw Usagi didn't understand, he went on. "There is computer software these days that can alter photos digitally. Most people use them to improve pictures they've taken with a camera or a cell phone. Some people use them to airbrush clothes off of famous people and post them on the internet." Usagi goggled in shock. "This one's a really good job, too. You can hardly tell it's a fake. She looks so real."

"Aw, Toshi, you little hentai darling!" Minako chuckled and planted a kiss on her husband's cheek. "I wondered what you were printing off last night." Toshihiro flushed.

"Why would somebody do that?" Usagi demanded.

"Because the real thing doesn't exist," scowled Minako. "Somebody wants a picture of me in the buff, they're going to get it one way or another. It's part of the price of fame. Bugs me, but I can't do anything about it. The bad part is, my producers have seen them and they're not happy."

"They wouldn't fire you, would they?" Usagi asked.

"I hope not," Minako gulped.

"They won't fire her," Toshihiro assured them. "The show and all the ancillary merchandise are making too much money. The only thing that could be a problem is if the press finds out about them. It might not play well with the public if the lovable star of 'Island Princess' did nude shots. And that COULD affect revenues."

"See, you don't do 'em and it still bites you in the butt," muttered Minako. "I may as well have done them. I could have used the money."

"Anyway, if the publicity department of 'Lotus Entertain You' has the original shots that were altered, they can provide them to the press and head off any negative publicity," Toshihiro explained, "or at least use them to portray Mina as the victim and get some sympathy for her."

"And that'll work?" Usagi asked.

"It should," Toshihiro said. Then he shrugged helplessly. "Of course, the one thing you can't predict is public opinion."

"Mina-Chan, I'm so sorry," Usagi said, hugging her friend.

"Hey," Minako shrugged bravely, "if it does blow up, at least I'll have an 'in' if I want to get into the porn industry." Usagi's shocked expression made her smile.

"It amazes me some of the things you have to go through just because you're famous, Mina-Chan," Usagi remarked. "I'm glad I don't have to put up with things like this. I don't know what I'd do."

"I guess you don't surf the net too much," smirked Minako.

Nudging Toshihiro aside, Minako typed an address into the browser. A website sprang up and Usagi went crimson as she stared at doctored photos of Sailor Moon and the inner senshi wearing nothing but their boots and tiaras.

* * *

Ami Mizuno entered the office of Kazuo Hitachi with growing reluctance. Dr. Hitachi was the director of medicine for the hospital and was in charge of the physicians who worked the General Surgery department. He was her superior and the superior of Dr. Yamaguchi, which meant he was the natural person to report her suspicions to.

It's just that she really didn't want to make this report. Dr. Yamaguchi was a respected member of the hospital staff and had done a great deal of good work for a long time. The people he'd helped were too numerous to count. And she had no indication at all that what had happened had happened deliberately. Reporting this would be a huge embarrassment to the man and could lead the hospital into some sticky legal issues.

But a person had died. Given the amount of aortal damage, it's possible he would have died anyway. However, Ami didn't feel that was a judgment she was entitled to make. Just as she wasn't comfortable overlooking this incident, even though it could have been a simple mistake. She knew how easy it might have been to forget and accidentally double dose the patient, given the stressful conditions of the moment. And she observed the signs of Dr. Yamaguchi's failing memory at lunch. But a person had died and she had to report it, if just to keep it from happening again.

"Dr. Mizuno," Hitachi nodded. He was about Dr. Yamaguchi's age, with graying black hair, a sagging face and a sagging body that seemed more comfortable behind a desk than in an operating theater. Thick horn-rimmed glasses with thick lenses sat on his face and looked Ami over. Hitachi seemed like a quiet man, but one who knew the responsibility of his position and accepted it. "Please sit down."

Ami nodded and took a seat.

"I've read over your written report concerning the Soriyama case," Hitachi began. "These are serious allegations, Doctor."

"I understand that, Dr. Hitachi," Ami responded. "I don't make this report lightly."

"Dr. Yamaguchi has a long and distinguished record of service in this hospital," Hitachi advised her.

"I realize that, Doctor," Ami said. "I'm in no way claiming that Dr. Yamaguchi's actions were either malicious or willfully negligent. It is my belief that he just made a mistake, either through overwork or memory lapse . . ."

"That's a good characterization, Dr. Mizuno," Hitachi replied patiently. "We all make them. Even doctors make them, no matter how experienced - - or how brilliant. We're all human and we're all capable of them."

"Yes sir, I know," Ami nodded, her eyes downcast. Then she looked up at him. "But a man died, sir. And he may have died because of the mistake in question. That makes it more than just a simple mistake, doesn't it?"

"I've reviewed the charts on Soriyama-San," Hitachi began. "In my opinion, he was a pulmonary embolism waiting to happen. Cardiac arrest could have occurred at any time."

"And if it were accidentally hastened, even by a few moments, isn't that still wrong?" Ami countered. It was unusual for the shy doctor to speak up like that, but her intellect had seized on the argument.

"I'm not trying to excuse medical negligence, Dr. Mizuno," Hitachi explained. "Of course what you're saying is right. But you have to consider Dr. Yamaguchi in this, too. Is over thirty years worth of good work worth flushing down the drain over something that, in all honesty, can't conclusively be proven to have even induced the cardiac arrest in the first place?"

"I don't want this to be a stain on Dr. Yamaguchi's record, sir," Ami argued. "You make a good case for letting it go - - except for one thing. What if it happens again? What if Dr. Yamaguchi is suffering from something that has impaired his memory and he double doses another patient? Don't we owe it to our patients to investigate this? Don't we owe it to Dr. Yamaguchi, if for no other reason than to prevent him from accidentally harming another patient he was seeking to help? And then, of course, there's the potential liability of the hospital if he accidentally . . ."

"Yes, I see your point, Dr. Mizuno," Hitachi interjected hurriedly. "You're correct in your assertion that this needs to be investigated further. I'll see to it immediately." Dr. Hitachi rose, so Ami did so as well. "I hope you understand how sensitive this matter is, Dr. Mizuno. If this were to get out prematurely, it might do harm to the investigation. Plus there's the grieving family to consider, as well as Dr. Yamaguchi's reputation."

"I won't speak of it to anyone, Dr. Hitachi. I hope this can be solved quickly and with as little harm to anyone as possible."

"A sentiment I share, Dr. Mizuno," Dr. Hitachi nodded, smiling slightly. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

Ami bowed, a gesture returned by Hitachi. As she left the office, though, Ami could feel doubts nagging at her great brain. Her doubts weren't in whether she should have reported the incident, though. It was whether Dr. Hitachi was the one best suited to handle it.

Continued in Chapter 3


	3. Rumblings From The Past

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 3: "Rumblings from The Past"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"You don't understand, sir," Minako earnestly protested to the man sitting across the desk from her. "This job is my life! This is what I want to do! It's what I've always wanted to do!"

She sat in the office of a casting director. The man was in his fifties, but was trying to look younger. He wore a crisp, tailored blue suit and slicked his thick black hair back from his face. Rings adorned his fingers and an ornate stickpin was in his lapel. At all times he tried to convey his importance. Minako, on the other hand, was dressed conservatively. She had on a navy skirt with a modest hem, conservative hose, and white high heels to match the long-sleeve white blouse she wore.

"I gather that," he nodded as if he'd heard this plea a thousand times before. "But you're just not right for this part. And you lack the experience. . ."

"I know I don't have a big reputation," Minako argued, "but I can do this role! Give me a chance to prove it! You won't be sorry, I assure you!"

"You're really confident," the man murmured, eying Minako. "Maybe I could give you a chance."

"Sir? Oh, thank you! You won't be sorry!" exclaimed Minako.

"But," he continued, "there's something you'd have to do for me in return."

"Yes?" Minako asked innocently.

"There's a new restaurant opening that I've been meaning to try," he smiled, "and what better way to try it than with a pretty young lady on my arm."

"Um," Minako swallowed nervously.

"We could talk about this role," he continued, his eyes locked on Minako's figure, "and your career - - and other things. What do you say, Minako?"

"CUT!" yelled the director. The actor across the desk from Minako cursed under his breath. Minako sprouted a grin on her face, while members of the crew giggled. Suddenly Minako sprang to her feet in mock rage.

"How DARE YOU proposition a young, vivacious and virginal waif such as myself!" she proclaimed dramatically, pointing a finger at her fellow actor. "I'll have actor's equity after you! I'll sue you for every yen you've got! I'll - - I'll - - I'll SIC MY HUSBAND ON YOU!"

That dissolved the crew into fits of laughter. A grin sprouted on Minako's face again.

"Think that'll make the blooper reels?" she asked everybody. While they laughed, a page came up and whispered to the director.

"Minako, you've got a call," the director said, trying to balance the humor of the situation with the need to stay on schedule. "Maybe the crew will be calmed down by the time you get back."

Minako winked at the director and exited the sound stage where they taped "Island Princess". The phone outside the stage was off its hook, so she picked it up.

"Minako here," she said. "Oh, hi Takashi. What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to warn you, Minako," her agent informed her. "One of the tabloids found the doctored photos of you on the net. They're going to run them in the next edition."

"You are kidding!" groaned Minako.

"Sorry. You know, if those 'shops hadn't been so good, nobody would believe they were actually real."

"Did anyone tell them they were fakes? We've got the originals!"

"I told them that," Takashi replied. "The production company told them that. But they're going to run them anyway. They probably figure they can get good sales from this issue and they're probably hoping they can get you to do an interview discussing how innocent you are and how much of a victim you are so they can get a second issue out of it."

"And if I tell them to go to Hell?" groused Minako.

"They'll keep running the story until you do an interview," Takashi told her, "or until your reputation is mud - - whichever comes first. And I doubt they care which."

"Peachy," scowled Minako.

"You want my advice?" Takashi said. "Do the interview and get this whole mess behind you as quick as possible. Unless you have some actual nudes in your past."

"No, Takashi, I don't!" snapped Minako. She exhaled her frustration. "Call that rag and set up an interview. You know my schedule. And tell them they better print all of it!"

"Gotcha, Minako," Takashi responded. "Buck up. These things happen. And it could have been a lot worse."

"Yeah?" Minako murmured after she hung up. "Well I'm not seeing it." She ambled back onto the sound stage. On her way, she detoured to the director. "Ishikawa-San, I just got some lousy news. Is it OK if I take fifteen and try to get back into character? I know how important this scene is."

The director looked at his watch. "All right, Minako. But please don't take too long."

She nodded and headed for her dressing room. Maybe in fifteen minutes she could act the part of a demur young innocent with stars in her eyes, but she was way too mad to do it now.

* * *

Makoto opened the door to her apartment and gratefully ushered her friend Ami inside.

"How are you doing, Ames?" the woman asked, taking Ami's jacket. "It seems nice outside."

"Yes, we're having a very good spring," Ami answered. She set her black bag on the table. "Have you had a chance to go out yet?"

"Oh yeah, I go out sunbathing twice a day," Makoto chuckled. "You know, you'd think I'd be less busy with Akiko at pre-school. But Ichiro is two and even a quiet two-year-old is still a two-year-old."

"How is he feeling?" Ami asked, retrieving her bag. She and Makoto walked into the room Akiko and Ichiro shared.

"His temperature is up and he's sniffling," Makoto reported. "I hope it's nothing serious. The poor little guy just seems so miserable."

Ichiro was laying on the bed. Sheets were pulled up to his chin and a damp cloth was across his forehead. Makoto gently sat on the edge of the bed next to him and stroked his forehead.

"How are you feeling, Champ?" she asked.

"Achy," Ichiro replied forlornly.

"Well, your Aunt Ami's here. We'll see what we can do to fix you up."

"Mommy, I'm bored," Ichiro whimpered.

"You want me to bring the TV in here?" Makoto asked, spellbound by the young boy.

"Uh huh," he nodded.

"OK. But first we have to let Aunt Ami look you over," Makoto told him. She got up and Ami took her place on the side of the bed.

"How do you feel, Ichiro?" Ami asked.

"It's hard to breathe," the boy reported. She felt along his neck under his chin.

"Do you cough a lot?" Ami asked. The boy shrugged. "Does your head hurt?" He shook his head "no". She put a thermometer in his mouth and the boy dutifully held it. "When was the last time he ate?"

"He had breakfast, but he wasn't too thrilled with it," Makoto told her.

"Diarrhea or vomiting?"

"No. Ames, what is it?" Makoto asked anxiously.

Ami smiled. "From what I can observe, the common cold. It is a bit late in the season, but I guess Ichiro was just one of the unlucky ones." She turned back to the boy. "You should be just fine in a day or two. Just be sure to get as much rest as you can."

Ichiro returned her reassuring smile and nodded. Ami got up and she and Makoto slipped out of the room.

"A children's strength decongestant should help the swollen sinuses," Ami told her. "And if he complains about body aches, a children's strength acetaminophen will help. If you don't want to leave him, I'll run to the pharmacy for you."

"I worry too much, don't I?" Makoto asked, chagrined.

"You're his mother," Ami patted her shoulder. "You have a right to worry." The pair adjourned to the kitchen after Makoto moved a portable television set into her son's room. "Any signs of stress in Akiko?"

"From last November?" Makoto asked. "I haven't seen anything. It's almost like she thinks she just had a part in one of those Sailor Moon anime you see on TV."

"That's good to hear," Ami nodded. "Perhaps she came away from the experience without any permanent trauma. So she's watching the Sailor Moon anime now? What is her reaction to it?"

"She's always saying that Jupiter doesn't look or sound anything like me." The pair shared a laugh about that. Makoto handed her friend a cup of tea. "So what's bugging you?"

Ami looked at Makoto in surprise. Then she looked at the tea in her cup.

"Come on, Ames," Makoto smirked. "We've been friends too long for me not to know your moods. You're feeling guilty about something."

"We had a patient die at the hospital," Ami explained. "And the attending physician may have been negligent."

"So you don't know whether to report him?"

"I did report him. The problem is that he's a very senior doctor and very respected among the hospital staff," Ami continued. "And even though the hospital administration has taken pains to keep the incident quiet, word has gotten around the hospital. Dr. Yamaguchi is very embarrassed, particularly since he feels he did nothing wrong. And more than a few of the staff are upset with me for reporting it."

"Well that's not fair!" Makoto exclaimed indignantly.

"It's human nature to defend someone whom you respect," Ami shrugged. "And Dr. Yamaguchi is very popular and has earned a great deal of respect." The young doctor grimaced, a gesture noted by Makoto. "And I don't have the bank of good will that he has."

"Someone as good as you?"

"Everyone respects my ability," Ami confessed. "I'm known as 'wonder doctor' around the hospital - - although some use the term derisively." She felt Makoto's hand on her shoulder and it gave her the strength to go on. "My ability has inspired jealousy in some of my colleagues. They see this as a way of cutting me down to their level. Others feel I'm being too perfectionist and too critical of Dr. Yamaguchi." Ami took a breath and almost seemed to be on the verge of tears. "It hasn't been a pleasant few days."

"Wow, Ames," Makoto murmured.

"And if Dr. Yamaguchi is reprimanded or worse dismissed - - possibly sued by the family of the patient," Ami added. Then she put on a brave face. "But life is rarely a smooth road. Mother always said the best course is to persevere until a rational alternative appears. I'm going to run over to the pharmacy for you now."

"OK," Makoto replied, her heart going out to her friend. "I'll have a nice lunch ready for you when you get back."

Ami paused at the door. A small smile crept onto her face.

"Thank you," she said. "I think I'd like that."

* * *

The five famous sailor senshi exited Fujiyama Marketing Consultants and headed for the elevator. Everyone in the offices and the waiting rooms turned and watched them as they left. Celebrities were not an unheard-of thing in the Fujiyama offices. However, the sailor senshi weren't just "celebrities". They were, perhaps, the five most famous people in Japan. Mercury noticed the attention and became uncomfortable. Venus noticed the attention and basked in it. The rest were too busy chattering away.

"Was he serious about the licensing income we might make?" Jupiter inquired breathlessly.

"Dead serious," Venus nodded. "Merchandising income alone would be a pretty piece of change. I've been saying for years that we've been missing the boat for not paying more attention to the marketing of our images." The elevator car arrived. "And the rights for the live action television show could really score us some cash."

All four senshi entered the car. Sailor Moon started to, but her costume's wings became caught in the door. Awkwardly she struggled to free them as the elevator dutifully notified the riders of the obstruction with an annoying, incessant beep. People looked and Sailor Moon felt her mortification rising. Finally Jupiter reached over and bowed one of the wings so she could fit into the car. Unable to turn around, Sailor Moon faced everyone else.

"Ooooh, I HATE these wings!" the future queen fumed.

"Well why don't you take them off?" Mars demanded impatiently.

"I TRIED THAT!" bellowed Sailor Moon. "They just came back the next time I transformed!" She pouted for a moment and then the clash was forgotten. "I never thought licensing our images could get us this much. I only did it to get Daddy a job photographing us. You don't think they were suspicious about me specifically asking for him, do you?"

"Given the money they're anticipating making," grinned Venus, "I don't think they care. We're the stars, Sailor Moon. If we asked for a trained chimp as our personal photographer, they'd give it to us."

"I hope this works out for him," Sailor Moon sighed.

"And if he does a good job, it could lead to other photography commissions," Venus told her. "If you're good, word gets around in this business."

"I hope this works out, too," Jupiter chimed in. "San-San and I could use the money." Mars nodded sympathetically. "You really think we can pull in as much as they say?"

"If the TV deal goes through, I don't see why not," shrugged Venus.

"That might be enough to let San-San and me open that bakery I've always been hoping to open," Jupiter smiled wistfully.

"I just hope they get somebody cute to play me on television," Sailor Moon said.

"I hope they get somebody cute to play Tuxedo Mask," leered Mars. "I might even buy a TV set to see that."

"Watch it, Mars," Sailor Moon glared. Everybody else chuckled.

Since there was a security camera in the elevator, the five senshi were unable to transform back to civilian identities. That forced them to exit into the lobby and then onto the street still in their senshi forms. Their presence caused even more attention to come their way. People murmured and pointed. Children shouted with glee.

"You see this?" Venus asked the others. "This is the public and they love us. They want to have something, anything that's connected with us in some way, whether it's an autograph or a picture, a doll or a figurine, something that connects them with us. This stuff's been selling for years. Nothing's going to change now, except we're going to be the ones making some money off of it instead of somebody else. We're not 'selling out'. We're - - giving the public what it wants."

"An interesting interpretation, Venus," Mercury replied. "So long as it doesn't interfere with our primary mission, I'll defer to your judgment in this . . ."

Suddenly Mars looked up into the sky. Familiar with her ways, the others looked up as well. They saw a blue ball of energy growing larger in the sky. Quickly they all realized that the ball of energy was headed for them.

"Everyone get back!" Mercury shouted to the on-lookers. "This area could become dangerous very quickly!" As the citizens did what they were told, Mercury engaged her visor and returned her gaze to the sky.

"What is it, Merc?" Venus asked, the seasoned warrior taking charge of her personality.

"The energy in that ball is quite similar to the energy we use in Sailor Teleport," Mercury informed them.

"Is someone inside?" Jupiter inquired.

"One entity," Mercury related. "Humanoid, 182.88 centimeters, 58.97 kilograms. Age undetermined, sex female."

"Any weapons? Devices?" Venus queried.

"She's wearing a tiara, but I'm detecting no technology in it," Mercury said. "No other devices or technology apparent."

"Maybe she's another senshi," Sailor Moon proposed. "Like Princess Kakyuu."

"That's not an unsupportable hypothesis," Mercury replied. The energy ball was almost on top of them. "However, we need to be ready in case of an attack."

"Fan out!" Venus barked. "Try to keep it surrounded!"

The ball roared toward the plaza outside of the office tower. However, it slowed considerably as it neared the stone floor of the plaza and touched down lightly on the surface. Immediately the blue energy dissipated, revealing the person inside. She was tall, taller than Jupiter, so she dwarfed Sailor Moon. Her bearing was regal, but she didn't seem immediately belligerent. Black hair in tight curls cascaded half-way down her back. Her body was sleek and slim, but was fit, with powerful musculature. She wore a white leotard that fit close on her sleek body, trimmed down each side in red and held at her throat by a red choker with a blue jewel in the center. Three red markings, letters in an alien language, traversed her chest. She wore white boots with an arching red trim at the top, white gloves with the same arching red trim, and a gold tiara with a blue jewel, much like the senshi wore. Blue sapphire stones dangled from each earlobe. A red band ran around her left thigh.

She looked around, oblivious to the senshi surrounding her. It was as if she were taking in her surroundings, gauging them, familiarizing herself with the terrain. The senshi all crouched in anticipation of a belligerent movement.

"Hello," ventured Sailor Moon. The intruder's attention snapped to her. "My name is Sailor Moon. If you come in peace, we welcome you. May I know your name?"

The alien senshi stared at her for a few moments.

"You are the one," she stated and started forward toward Sailor Moon.

Continued in Chapter 4


	4. The Immovable Object

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 4: "The Immovable Object"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The strange woman from space walked toward the Sailor Senshi with a purposeful stride, her ruby eyes fixed solely on Sailor Moon. For her part, Sailor Moon was startled by the woman's response to her offer of friendship and hospitality. Hesitantly she backed up a step. The woman continued on, unmindful of anything and anyone else, focused only on Sailor Moon. Mercury looked up from her computer, concerned about the stranger's intent.

"Hold on a moment," Jupiter warned, placing herself between the stranger and Sailor Moon. "Why are you here? What do you want with Sailor Moon?" Mars flanked them, her position designed to allow her to both aid Jupiter if necessary and to try to read the intruder's intent.

The woman who had abandoned her title of Queen Triumphant gave no outward acknowledgment of Jupiter's challenge. Jupiter stood her ground and, when her adversary was close enough, lashed out with a hand to shove her back. Sailor Valiant responded with a lightning-fast attack, seizing Jupiter's arm and throwing the senshi over her outstretched leg to the ground with as much effort as one might fling paper.

"Get back, Sailor Moon!" Mars shouted, shoving Sailor Moon back as she interjected herself between her friend and the intruder. Already one of her wards was out, though she didn't know if it would work. Still, she was too close to use a fire attack and Mars knew she couldn't outfight someone who had dispatched Jupiter so easily. She just had to hold the woman at bay long enough to allow Venus and Mercury to enter the confrontation.

Suddenly Jupiter sprang up from behind and snapped a forearm lock across Sailor Valiant's throat. Caught off guard, the woman bent backwards awkwardly, allowing Jupiter to snap the woman over her hip and slam her to the pavement. With the speed of a cat, Jupiter straddled the woman's back, pinning her upper arms with her knees.

"Now why are you here?" demanded Jupiter.

There was no response from the senshi from space. She only struggled to throw Jupiter from atop her. Venus and Mercury closed ranks with Mars and Sailor Moon.

"What did you get when you tried to read her?" Venus asked Mars.

"Not a lot," Mars replied, never taking her eyes off of the intruder. "She's not from this world, and I don't have a lot of luck reading aliens. I do sense a tremendous sorrow in her - - and an almost single-minded sense of purpose."

"So what's that got to do with Sailor Moon?" Venus shot back.

"Stop resisting!" bellowed Jupiter. She'd bent in and shoved her forearm against the back of the woman's neck to hold her down.

"Jupiter, please don't hurt her!" pleaded Sailor Moon.

"If she calms down, she won't get hurt!" Jupiter told her.

"Nnnnnngh," growled Sailor Valiant. "Don't force me - - to harm you!"

Suddenly Jupiter was knocked away by an invisible force. She hurled through the air and landed several yards away. Sailor Moon gasped in alarm. But as Sailor Valiant rose to try for her again, Venus shoved forward.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" Venus called out.

The golden chain shot out and wrapped around the torso of Sailor Valiant. The impact knocked her backwards onto the pavement again. Mercury immediately circled around to check on Jupiter. Mars kept close to Sailor Moon. Venus pulled the golden tether tight to keep their adversary under control. In their peripheral vision, the senshi could see bystanders watching the battle, oblivious to any possible threat to them. One person in particular caught Sailor Moon's eye. It was her father, taking pictures of the battle for Tokyo Shimbun.

"Just stay there until we can get this settled!" Venus commanded.

The senshi from space flexed her chest and shoulder muscles against the chain, straining to burst the confining links. Venus could feel the vibrations through the end she held. Though the golden chain was pushed to its very limit, Sailor Valiant's muscles surrendered before the links did. However, Venus could tell that she wasn't surrendering the fight.

"Either one of you two got anything that'll calm her down?" Venus asked her teammates.

"Sword Of Justice!" they all heard and turned their attention back to the captive senshi.

A sword made entirely of blue energy materialized in the strange senshi's hand. Before anyone could act, Sailor Valiant swung down and severed the golden chain. Venus toppled backwards. Seemingly risking the edge of the energy sword, Sailor Valiant swung down along the side of her left arm. The energy sword severed the links upon touching them, yet left the skin on her arm unmarked. Rolling to her feet, Sailor Valiant brought the sword to bear in a very menacing manner.

"Burning Mandala!" Mars called out.

A circle of fire shaped in the sacred symbols of the Mandala sprang up around Sailor Valiant. Startled for a moment, Sailor Valiant fell back from the flames until she discovered there was precious little room to fall back into. Brandishing her sword, the woman swung at the flames. But the sword edge did no damage to the sacred fires of Sailor Mars. Quick to realize this, Sailor Valiant brought up her left arm.

"Shield of Hope!" she cried out.

At first nothing seemed to happen. But Mars and Venus quickly realized that the Mandala flames were licking against something, some barrier that couldn't be seen. It was like the force field Sailor Saturn used. Then Sailor Valiant moved forward and the invisible shield tracked with her. It forced a path through the Mandala symbols until she was clear of the sacred circle. Venus and Mars crouched for her next attack.

"Sub-Zero Caress!"

That was Mercury. Venus, Mars and Sailor Moon all looked over to their comrade with amazement as a huge dome of ice flash froze around the barrier containing Sailor Valiant. Even worse, the entire plaza of the office complex, as well as the street and the building itself was frozen solid for a radius of 100 yards in all directions including up.

"Where'd that come from?" Venus gaped.

"I felt the attack form within me several weeks ago," explained Mercury. "It's the first time I've had a chance to use it."

"Pretty good timing there, Mercury," Jupiter said, patting her on the back. Jupiter got to her feet. "Think it'll hold her?"

In answer, the ice around the barrier shattered and crumbled away. Sailor Valiant was holding her energy sword and it was clear she had used it to shatter Mercury's ice prison.

"Please, we don't need to fight!" Sailor Moon pleaded with her. "Whatever your dispute with us is, we can solve it peacefully!"

"Come with me, woman," Sailor Valiant replied coldly, "and there will be no dispute!"

"You still haven't explained why you want her!" Venus shot back. Valiant's response was to start for Sailor Moon again. "Ah, ah, you didn't say please! Venus! Love and Beauty Shock!"

The explosive force of the Love And Beauty Shock attack went off where Sailor Valiant stood. However, she wasn't there anymore. Executing a leap from a standing position, Sailor Valiant propelled herself eleven feet into the air. She did a perfectly graceful somersault and landed within striking distance of Sailor Venus. While Mars pulled Sailor Moon away, Sailor Valiant swung on Venus. Venus managed to evade the blow, then deflect a second one. The blow stung Sailor Venus just the same and her friends wondered if she could take even another deflected hit.

Jupiter did more than wonder. She charged Sailor Valiant, tackling the woman waist high and sending them both sprawling onto the pavement. The pair landed hard, but the visitor from space rolled as she landed and used the jarring impact to free herself from Jupiter's grip. Like a seasoned warrior, she rolled up to her feet and lunged as Jupiter started to rise. One swift kick was deflected by Jupiter, but her adversary came again and again, keeping the pressure on her and not allowing her to get to her feet.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" Venus called out, her chain again wrapping around Sailor Valiant's torso and arms. If nothing else, the move would pull her off of Jupiter long enough for the senshi to get to her feet.

"Mars! Flame Sniper!" Mars shouted. The flaming bow and arrow formed in her hands and Mars immediately took aim at their extraterrestrial foe.

"Mars, please don't hurt her!" gasped Sailor Moon. She tugged at Mars' arm.

"It's her or you, Sailor Moon!" Mars snapped. "She's not going to back down from this!"

Ignoring Sailor Moon's pleas, Mars let a flaming arrow fly directly at Sailor Valiant. But to the amazement of everybody, Valiant leaped into a spin kick while still trapped in the Love Me Chain and kicked the arrow out of the air. Then, still in one motion, she landed on both feet and jerked suddenly with her torso. The chain didn't give so Venus did. She was pulled off of her feet, face-planting on the pavement. Her chain came free and the loops slid away from Sailor Valiant's body.

Without allowing her a moment's respite, Jupiter entered the fray once again. Using her martial arts training, Jupiter threw a series of punches and kicks at her opponent, all at a withering pace. But Sailor Valiant matched her move for move, countering every blow without giving an inch of ground. Jupiter was privately amazed, but outwardly remained determined to take the woman down.

"Oh, this has gone far enough!" fumed Sailor Moon. The Moon Tier appeared in her hands. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"

At once the area was blanketed with waves of silver energy. Everyone touched by the waves immediately felt a sense of peace and contentment. Even the senshi had to struggle to keep their battle edge. Only their familiarity with Sailor Moon's Moon Tier attack kept them from fully surrendering to her siren song of peace.

Sailor Valiant stopped. She stood, ready to defend herself but quiet and reflective. The senshi all held up, expecting Sailor Moon's power to overwhelm the woman at any moment. And then, out of the blue, Sailor Valiant whirled and stared at Sailor Moon.

"Penetrating Eyes!" she roared. Two blue energy beams akin to laser beams shot out from her eyes. The beams struck the handle of the Moon Tier. Instantly Sailor Moon released it with a squeal of surprise, as if the totem suddenly was one thousand degrees. It clattered to the pavement and rolled away from her.

"She shook off Sailor Moon's influence!" Mercury stared in amazement, musing to herself. "Just who is this woman and how powerful is she?"

Jupiter charged again, but her foe was quicker. She seized Jupiter by her Sailor Kerchief and snapped her to the ground with a compact hip toss. There was a moment where she was clear of combatants, with only Sailor Mars tracking her again with the Flame Sniper.

"Sub-Zero Caress!" Mercury called out again.

Immediately she felt dizzy and plunged to her knees. Looking at her target, steadying her head with one hand, Mercury saw that the attack had produced smaller results this time. Sailor Valiant was encased in ice up to her waist and anchored to the spot by a thick trail of ice leading almost back to Mercury herself.

"Clearly that attack requires a great deal of energy," Mercury concluded silently. "As I recall, Mars has the same difficulty with her Snake Fire attack. It stands to reason. I should have remembered." She exhaled with fatigue. "The others are going to have to win this." While she recovered her wits, Mercury concentrated on the readouts coming from her visor.

With her target stationary, Sailor Mars let loose another flaming arrow. As she let fly, the alien senshi recalled her energy sword. The blade deflected the arrow with a blur of motion. Undaunted, Mars let three more fly. Each one was parried by the sword.

"Penetrating Eyes!" Sailor Valiant called out as Mars let loose another arrow. The beams struck at Sailor Mars' feet, chewing up pavement. Mars jumped back, lost her footing and fell onto her back. The flaming bow dissipated.

"Jupiter! Oak Evolution!" Jupiter sang out. Electricity began popping and exploding all around Sailor Valiant.

"Shield Of Hope!" the alien senshi called out once more. Suddenly the electric bursts were exploding off of the barrier and not around her. Using the respite, Sailor Valiant freed her legs from Mercury's ice with her energy sword.

"She can use multiple attacks at once!" Venus summarized for the others. "I haven't seen a level of power this big in a while!"

"Let me try again with the Moon Tier," Sailor Moon urged. She'd retrieved the Moon Tier and was standing in front of Mars to keep her safe. "Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"

Again silver waves radiated out from her. Mercury began to feel revitalized. The gathered crowd again sighed involuntarily as the caress of Sailor Moon's energy brought them pleasant feelings. Sailor Valiant, though, shrugged off the energy as if it were nothing. She stood defiantly behind her shield, her energy sword in one hand.

"Your healing energy cannot sway me, woman!" Sailor Valiant declared. "I will not be bent to its will! I am too evolved! And I am too dedicated to my cause!"

"What cause?" Sailor Moon pleaded. "What are you after? If only you'd talk things out with us, perhaps . . ."

"There is no time for talk!" bellowed Sailor Valiant. "There is only time for vengeance!"

"V-Vengeance? But what have I done?" asked Sailor Moon.

"You haven't done anything!" Sailor Mars roared. She was on her feet, just to one side of Sailor Moon. "And nobody's going to take vengeance on you! Mars Snake Fire!"

Instantly Mars ignited behind Sailor Moon. The senshi ducked away to avoid the fire that consumed Mars' body. Up from the flames rose a huge snake. It continued to rise until its head was twenty-five feet in the air above them all. Glaring directly at Sailor Valiant, the snake bared its fiery fangs and then lunged. The strike spread flames for yards in all directions and buried Sailor Valiant in a cataclysmic pyre. Steam from vaporizing ice grew thick in the area. A gasp rose up from the crowd watching. Sailor Moon looked away in horror, believing that the woman from the sky had been immolated.

But the senshi from another world walked purposefully out of the pyre, unscathed thanks to her barrier. There was grim purpose in her manner and in her steely gaze. Her face was flushed from the heat of Mars' pyre and her chest heaved from diminished oxygen, but she came undaunted for Sailor Moon.

"Enough of this," Sailor Valiant stated. "You cannot protect her from me. Your lives have been a lie. All you can do now is be ground underfoot, your lives, your hopes and your dreams crushed into dust. Stand down, I charge you, while you still can, for you cannot hope to defeat me." Venus stepped up to try to fend her off with another shock attack, as Mercury and Mars were spent and out of the fray.

"I don't think so," Jupiter rumbled. Everyone but Sailor Valiant recognized it as the voice Jupiter used when she had been pushed too far. "JUPITER COCONUT CYCLONE!"

And Sailor Valiant stopped. She looked up, sensing the clouds above her. Indeed the clouds above suddenly grew dark and began ominously swirling around above them. The wind picked up, whirling around the plaza of the office building. It whipped at skirts, tore at exposed skin and sent debris and loose objects swirling into the air. A bolt of lightning shot down from the clouds and only Sailor Valiant's remarkable barrier deflected it.

But the swirling storm didn't spend itself with the single bolt. The winds grew faster, spinning around in the area until they reached cyclonic speeds. Great rumbles of thunder passed through the confined space of the Tokyo business district. Murmurs of alarm began to spread through the people watching. Her fellow senshi stared in wonder at the fury and havoc Jupiter had summoned. Feeling her skin crawling, Sailor Moon looked down and found the fine hairs on her arm standing on end. The wind continued to whip at her hair trails and her skirt. She looked again at Jupiter and was about to plead with her to end this spectacular show of force.

Then the heavens opened up with a crack of thunder that shattered windows. A beat after the thunderclap, a bolt of lightning slammed down on the spot where Sailor Valiant stood. The bolt gave off so much light that everyone had to turn away lest they be blinded. The heat from the bolt struck everyone like a blast furnace. Echos of the thunderclap reverberated through the concrete and metal canyons of the business district.

When they felt it safe to look again, everyone saw Sailor Valiant lying on the pavement. Steam rose from her form, perspiration and the water in the air vaporized by the lightning strike. She seemed woozy and disoriented. Her movements were uncertain. Since she was the only senshi left with any attacks, Venus moved forward to engage her.

"Penetrating," gasped Sailor Valiant with waning strength, "eyes!"

Her energy beams sliced a circular arc across the path between her and the senshi. Venus leaped back to avoid the beams. With that, Valiant pushed to her feet and bounded away at phenomenal speed.

"I'll try to run her down!" Venus shouted, bolting forward in pursuit. "You four catch up as fast as you can!"

"Venus!" Sailor Moon called after her, to no avail.

"Let her go, Sailor Moon," Mars advised, still winded from her own attack. "This being is too dangerous to let her get away and recover." Jupiter was staggering over to them, helped by a recovering Mercury. Mars turned to them with a raised eyebrow. "New attack?"

"And a good thing, too," Jupiter shrugged. "I wasn't going to let her get close to Sailor Moon. Wasn't happening."

Something surprising filled the air. The on-lookers who had been watching the battle erupted in applause. The senshi all looked around, astonished by the response.

"I feel like a stage idol," Mars groused. "What do they think this is, a Zentai Actor Show?"

"Too bad Blondie's not here," smirked Jupiter. "She'd be eating it up."

"Perhaps they're just glad the perceived threat has been driven off," suggested Mercury, "and Sailor Moon is safe."

"I don't know about that," Sailor Moon shrugged.

Mars motioned with her head. They all turned and saw Sailor Venus returning - - alone. It was a welcome sight, and in a way, it wasn't. She walked up to them, less than pleased with herself.

"She got away," Venus scowled. "That woman is quick - - or she can turn invisible. Wouldn't surprise me. She seems to be able to do everything short of get grease off your pots and pans." Venus grinned self-consciously. "Sorry. Commercial I just did."

"I want to know why she wants vengeance on Sailor Moon," Mars stated. It was something everyone could agree on.

Continued in Chapter 5


	5. Vulnerable Moment

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 5: "Vulnerable Moment"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Five friends and fighting comrades were sitting in a booth at an upscale restaurant. To anyone watching, they were five friends having an intimate dinner and discussing old times, new times and mutual interests. It a way, that was true. However, their "mutual interest" was way beyond anyone's guess. And one of the friends did look rather odd wearing designer sunglasses inside the restaurant.

"Minako, you do realize that you're attracting more attention to yourself by wearing those sunglasses inside the restaurant than you would if you didn't wear them at all?" Ami remarked. Minako was huddled down in the corner of the booth between Usagi and Makoto, conspicuously trying to keep a low profile. Usagi and Makoto were on their cell phones to their respective spouses.

"I think that's the idea," Rei commented cynically. "I think she secretly wants to be found out so she can do a star turn."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd ever been mobbed by fans," Minako shot back.

"We get mobbed every time we go out as senshi," Rei argued.

"Well, it's the same thing," Minako countered. "We may as well have come here still transformed."

"I'm sorry, Mina-Chan, but I want to get this talked over as soon as possible," Usagi said, closing her phone. "And I figured I could treat you all to dinner while we did, considering how late it is. There wasn't time for you to go home and get disguised. Mamo-Chan was glad I called, by the way."

"I'm so thrilled," Rei replied stonily.

Just then, a young woman came up to the table. Everyone looked at her quizzically.

"Um," she began, trembling. "Y-You're Minako Aino - - aren't you?" Minako gave Rei an "I told you so" look, then held out her hand. Gratefully the woman put a pen and paper in it.

"Don't spread it around," Minako said conspiratorially. "Who do I make this out to?"

"Kei," the woman exclaimed. "From your loving friend."

Usagi goggled while the others smirked at each other. Minako complied and handed the autograph to the woman. She took it, bowed and scurried off. No sooner was she gone then their order arrived. Minako's plate held the least food, Usagi's the most.

"Down to business," Rei began. "I want to know why this woman wants revenge on Sailor Moon."

"I want to know why everybody has a new attack but me," pouted Minako.

"Clean living?" jabbed Rei.

"It's possible that we're misinterpreting her statement," suggested Ami. "From my observations, this woman is very focused on an objective and obsessed with obtaining it. But she really made no move to attack Sailor Moon, whereas she did attack the four of us when we interfered with her. My conclusion is that, rather than the focus of her desire for vengeance, Sailor Moon is a key element to obtaining that vengeance."

"But what?" Usagi asked.

"I don't have enough information to postulate that far," Ami replied.

"Well, maybe if I go with her," Usagi began.

"Absolutely not," declared Rei.

"But Rei," Usagi started to say.

"Hon'," Makoto interrupted. "You can't just hand yourself over to a stranger without knowing what she wants you for. It's not smart."

"Yeah, for all you know, she wants to plug you into some super space cannon and focus death rays through you in order to annihilate the universe," Minako added. Ami and Rei both stared at her, incredulous. "Just saying."

"As ridiculous as that example is," Ami grimaced, "Minako's premise is correct. Until we know more, the logical course is to keep you away from her."

"But I'm just afraid that someone is going to get hurt if there's another confrontation," Usagi mumbled through a mouthful of food. "And besides - - I sensed a great deal of sadness in her - - as if she'd suffered a great personal tragedy."

"I was getting those vibes, too," nodded Rei.

"Best case scenario would be capturing her and interrogating her," Minako proposed. "Then if we find out she's got a problem we can help her with, we can help her. But the important part is capturing her."

"How much do we know about her?" Makoto asked. "Other than she's a dynamo."

"The readings I took of her during the battle indicate that she's very powerful," Ami related. "More powerful than even Sailor Moon, I'd say. At least as powerful. And the energy had a familiar signature to it. It resembled Sailor Moon's energy signature, as well as that of Sailor Galaxia and Princess Kakyuu. It's not a precise match, but there are similarities. My estimate is that at one time she was a senshi."

"Galaxia?" Makoto whispered. "I don't even want to think about going through that again. Especially now that I've got kids."

"So, what do we do?" Rei asked.

"Well, as I remember it, Galaxia and her bunch couldn't sniff Sailor Moon out when she wasn't transformed," Minako began. "Maybe that's the way to go: Stash her at home as Usagi until we can track down this - - what, rogue senshi? Mamoru and Luna will be there in case something does go down."

"You have a point," Ami frowned. "I confess, I can't come up with a better option."

"It just seems like we're taking a risk," Rei argued.

"Well, we can't just sit in a circle around her for the rest of her life," Makoto concluded. "We've all got other demands - - other people who need us, too."

"I'll be fine, Rei-Chan," Usagi smiled. "Mamo-Chan will be there to protect me. He always has."

"Famous last words," Rei sighed helplessly. Usagi wrinkled her nose at the woman.

"What you all need to do is find this woman so we can help her."

"I don't suppose she's in the phone book under 'rogue senshi'?" Minako asked. "OK, I'll get with Artemis and see what we can come up with."

"I'll run some sensor probes at home," offered Ami.

"Well, that's settled," Usagi proclaimed. "I don't know about you, but I'd like seconds."

She received four looks of horror in response.

* * *

Minako entered the apartment she shared with her husband, Toshihiro, and her cat, Artemis. Toshihiro was sitting on the sofa, reviewing his blocking notes for the television series he was currently directing. In season was always tough, because he would work all day directing one episode, then come home and work all night on story boards and blocking for a script two or three episodes in the future. It often made him unavailable when she needed to cuddle, or too tired to be any good at it.

Still, she often had the same demands on her time. If she wasn't spending all day filming an episode of her TV show, she was home learning a script for the next one or off being Sailor Venus. Since she was just as guilty as Toshihiro was, she didn't say anything.

"We heard what happened on the news," Artemis said, greeting her at the door. "Any leads?"

"I was going to ask you that," Minako replied. "I guess it's a late night turning over rocks to see what crawls out. God, I love my job sometimes," and she scowled.

"Don't forget," Toshihiro half-turned to her, "you have that interview day after tomorrow. You can't miss it."

"Damn," Minako cursed. "I have to be on my toes, too. Reporters can be sharks if they smell blood." Then she noticed a fleeting expression on Toshihiro's face as he turned back to his work. "Toshi?"

"What?" he asked, distracted by his work.

Minako walked over to him. Sure, he was consumed by his work, but he was also avoiding something. Her curiosity piqued, Minako bent down to him. She draped her arms across his chest, pressed her chest to the back of his head and rested her chin on his head. This was something her husband usually had no defense against.

"What's wrong?" she asked as sympathetically as possible.

"Nothing," he offered lamely.

"Ah, ve haff vays of makink you talk," she persisted in a parody German accent.

"It's just," Toshihiro surrendered, "those pictures."

"Toshi, it's no big deal," Minako said, sitting on the back of the sofa. "OK, a couple of network boys got their undies in a twist. It'll pass. I'm more bugged that I'm not making a dime off of them. If some sweaty sixteen-year-old internet geek is going to get a nosebleed looking at nudes of me, I'd like to get . . ."

Minako stopped. Toshihiro had that expression again. He immediately sensed her staring and became embarrassed.

"That's what's bugging you?" Minako asked. Artemis looked on, curiously.

"Yeah," grimaced Toshihiro. "The idea of other men - - looking at those pictures . . ."

"Toshi, they're just pictures. Even if they were real, they're just pictures."

"But you're my wife," Toshihiro argued. "It's like - - I have to share you with them. I want you all to myself, Minako. It's bad enough that I have to watch you kiss that actor on your show." He was growing more frustrated every moment. "The thought of millions of strangers being able to see your most intimate - - moments - - I hate it. It's like they're stealing you away from me."

Minako stroked his hair. Her husband looked up to her, frightened and angry with himself and with the world. Spots of dried tears stained his glasses.

"Toshi," Minako said. "You have so many more of my 'intimate moments' than anyone, moments that they'll never, ever see. Let them stare at some skin. It's all they're ever going to get. Nobody's going to steal me away from you. Not ever."

Toshihiro looked down, chagrined. "Pretty silly, huh?"

"Yeah," Minako chuckled, then leaned in and kissed him. "But it's part of why I like you. And you put up with all of my silly moments, so I guess it's an even trade." Minako slid down the sofa back and landed with her head in Toshihiro's lap, on top of his notes. "Wanna snuggle?"

"Um," Artemis interjected, "looking for leads?"

"The others can get it," Minako sighed as she pressed her mouth to Toshihiro's.

* * *

At work at the hospital the next day, Ami was at the nurse's station going over her patients' charts to see how their nights went. Up until that moment, she had been mentally reviewing everything she'd scanned and witnessed concerning the mysterious alien senshi they'd battled the previous day. Rei and Makoto had turned up nothing new and Minako had failed to report. Since Luna hadn't called, Ami assumed that Minako was either still digging or had other concerns to attend to.

Like she did; her patients still needed her even if Usagi did, too, and she couldn't give them less than her best. When she got time at lunch, she'd return to the problem of the senshi from space.

"Nurse Tanaka," Ami commented absently as she reviewed the records. "These charts are dated with yesterday's date."

"Forgive me, Dr. Mizuno," Nurse Tanaka replied. Ami looked up, because the woman's tone had an undercurrent of hostility that was hard to miss. "It was a simple mistake and humans do make mistakes."

"Yes, they do," Ami said. Obviously word had gotten around about what had happened between her and Dr. Yamaguchi and Nurse Tanaka was siding with him. The other two nurses at the station attended to other things, trying to stay out of the possible confrontation.

"Let me correct those files now, Dr. Mizuno," Nurse Tanaka persisted, taking the case files from her. "I hope you won't find it necessary to report this to hospital management."

The other two nurses conspicuously exited the nurse's station and went on their rounds.

"Since no one lost his or her life because of it," bristled Ami, "I see no reason to report it. Was there anything else, Nurse Tanaka?" And Nurse Tanaka, for just a moment, saw the same steely expression made famous to the hospital staff by the other, elder Dr. Mizuno who also practiced there. And it was widely acknowledged among the hospital staff that when you got THAT look from the elder Dr. Mizuno, you didn't tread any further on the path you'd selected.

Nurse Tanaka took the case files and began correcting the dates on them. She didn't say anything else, but Ami could sense that she hadn't backed off of her feelings. Ami took a chart for one of her patients and headed for the appropriate room. However, at the door to that particular room, she paused. Emotions were welling up within her, brought on by a swirl of memories triggered by the confrontation. They were memories from college, high school, elementary school, of people taunting her and ostracizing her because of her intellect or her dedication or her adherence to the rules. Was she going to become the outsider again, just because she'd done what was right, what her Hippocratic Oath had required of her? It's not like she was out to get Dr. Yamaguchi. He'd made a mistake and it led to a patient's death. He had to be accountable for it, and if it was due to some infirmity then he had to be treated for it or it would happen again.

But he was liked and admired on staff. She was admired. Liked - - well, that wasn't something she could claim with the same conviction.

Swallowing her emotions and summoning the rational side of her, Ami ventured in to see what kind of comfort she could give her first patient of the day.

* * *

Usagi sat on the sofa curled up next to Mamoru after an uneventful day cooped up at home. They watched a movie on television while Luna lay on the back of the sofa and slept. The particular film was an action spy thriller that Usagi was enduring because Mamoru had endured her "chick flick" the last time. It wasn't that important. The company was what mattered.

"Being stuck in the apartment all day did have one good result," Usagi continued the conversation that was drifting in and out of the film during the slow parts. "I was able to get way ahead on my deadline."

"Good for you," Mamoru told her and stroked her hair.

"And just whom is responsible for that dedication to your job?" Luna murmured.

"Oh yeah, that was the bad part: I had to sit here and listen to Luna NAG ME!" Usagi added, directing the last of the comment toward Luna. The black cat smirked, but remained unmoved on the sofa back.

"Well, it's a small price to pay to keep you away from this mysterious woman," Mamoru concluded. "At least until we can find out what she wants with you."

Their first warning that anything was wrong was when Luna suddenly stood up on the back of the sofa and looked at the door. Just then, the door frame splintered around the lock. The lock housing burst from the door frame and bounced onto the floor, propelled by the force applied to push the door open. Framed in the doorway was Sailor Valiant.

"Come, Sailor Moon," the woman said, her steely gaze fixed again on Usagi. "Let us make this simple. I would prefer not to do battle in your hearth."

Usagi looked at her in shock and amazement. Mamoru rose to his feet.

"Get out of here now!" he warned her.

"Is this your mate?" Sailor Valiant asked. "He seems a fine man. There is hidden strength to him that one would not see at first glance. I have no wish to hurt him."

"How . . .?" Usagi gasped.

"You cannot hide from me," Sailor Valiant informed her. "I can see the power that lies yet to blossom within you. We are two of a sisterhood, Sailor Moon. You are only my evolutionary junior. Now transform and let us be away. I tire of waiting for my vengeance."

"Your vengeance will have to wait some more." Everyone suddenly noticed that Tuxedo Mask had replaced Mamoru. His hand shifted slightly and three roses suddenly appeared in it. "Leave now while you can."

Sailor Valiant glared. She clearly wasn't pleased. Tuxedo Mask stood his ground.

"Sword Of Justice!" Valiant called out.

As her energy sword formed, Tuxedo Mask let fly with the three roses. But a lightning quick swing of the sword cleaved the roses in mid-air. In the same motion, Sailor Valiant burst forward for Usagi. Before she reached the sofa, though, Tuxedo Mask was between her and his wife, his walking stick parrying the sword. For tense moments the two engaged in a contest of strength. Finally Tuxedo Mask was able to shove Sailor Valiant back.

"Mamo-Chan!" Usagi shrieked as Tuxedo Mask parried several slashes from the energy sword. In close quarters, he had no room to use his rose attack. But every time Sailor Valiant tried to move for Usagi, he blocked her and fought her off.

"Get to cover, Usagi!" Luna shouted from the corner. "I'm calling the others!"

Tuxedo Mask heard this, as did Sailor Valiant. Usagi, however, stayed rooted to the spot, terrified of the prospect of Mamoru coming to harm. Stalemate seemed to loom for the two combatants, as Tuxedo Mask skillfully countered every attack the alien senshi made. This played to Tuxedo Mask's advantage, for the longer he could keep Sailor Valiant at bay, the more likely the senshi would arrive as reinforcements.

Sailor Valiant knew this. The longer it went, the worse it would go for her. But Tuxedo Mask was not an easy opponent. Grimacing with frustration and distaste, the senshi took on a faint blue glow. And an end table flew across the room, striking Tuxedo Mask squarely in the back.

Usagi squealed with alarm. Tuxedo Mask fell forward, directly into a vicious punch delivered by Sailor Valiant. She was then on Usagi in a moment. While Tuxedo Mask lay stunned, Sailor Valiant grabbed Usagi around the waist, pinned the woman on her hip and flung them both out the front window and into the night.

"Usagi!" screamed Luna, leaping up to the windowsill.

"Mamo-Chan!" Usagi wailed in return. Luna saw the pair land on the roof opposite the apartment. A blue energy bubble formed around them. It sizzled for a few moments and then leaped into the sky and disappeared into space.

Continued in Chapter 6


	6. Moral Compass

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 6: "Moral Compass"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

The apartment door opened and Ami Mizuno entered her solitary domicile. The room had an oppressive stillness to it that engaging the lights hadn't dispelled. It drew a sigh from Ami. There was a vague familiarity to the solitude. Thinking for a moment, Ami came up with the answer. It was the same feeling of solitude, of reclusiveness that she sensed whenever she visited her mother. Ami had been after her mother for years now to seek out friendship, not to live solely through her job.

"I'm not much better," Ami scowled, not liking the conclusion she'd reached.

Shunting it aside for other concerns, Ami put up her purse and loosened her jacket and blouse. It had been a melancholy conclusion, but then it had been a melancholy day. Most of the staff had heard by now of what had happened between her and Dr. Yamaguchi, and more than one of the staff had sided with him. The unspoken resentments were poisoning the working atmosphere on her floor and making work somewhat unpleasant. She knew some were watching her, waiting for her to make a mistake so they could pounce. They didn't put any more pressure on her to be perfect than she already did herself. That lesson had been drummed into her head by her mother for eighteen years. It just made things that much more undesirable.

Just as she was removing a microwave meal to prepare, her senshi communicator sounded. For a moment, Ami didn't want to answer. On top of everything else, the last thing she needed was a senshi emergency. But the strange senshi from space was still out there and this might be connected. Ami flipped open the watch face and engaged the communicator.

"Ami?" Luna gasped on the other end. Instantly Ami's anxiety shot up. "It's Usagi! That woman broke into the apartment! She's taken Usagi!"

"Which direction did she go?" Ami asked, her henshin stick appearing in her hand. Rei and Makoto could be seen in windows around Luna.

"She leaped across the street from the apartment!" Luna related. "Then she formed a transport bubble and took off into space!"

"Into space?" Minako gasped, now on-line as well.

"Luna, is this woman the alien entity we've been tracking?" Sailor Neptune asked. She and Sailor Uranus were on-line now, too. Ami took that moment to transform.

"It must have been," Sailor Mercury answered. Her computer was out and sitting on the counter next to her frozen meal, the screen up and active.

"Where was Mamoru?" Makoto asked anxiously. "I thought he was protecting her!"

"He tried," Luna explained. "She was too much for him. This woman is quite powerful. I sense she's at least as powerful as Princess Kakyuu was."

"Mercury, are you tracking her?" Rei demanded.

"I've got a faint signal," Mercury told them. Her computer's sensors were the most sophisticated on the planet, but they weren't all-powerful. "Tracking past Charon now at a high rate of speed."

"Where?" Rei demanded frantically.

"Destination unknown," Mercury related, her scientific demeanor a huge counterpoint to the agitation of everyone else. "Their plotted course doesn't intersect any known worlds and I don't have any points of reference beyond Andromeda."

"So what do we do?" Makoto asked.

"We go after them," Uranus responded resolutely.

"How?" Minako remarked. "Sailor Teleport? Don't we kind of have to have Sailor Moon to do that?"

"Aren't we enough?" Uranus argued. "I can dig up Pluto if we have to!"

"No, I'm afraid it's highly unlikely," Luna shook her head. "The energy required to teleport just isn't there without Sailor Moon."

"I can help," they all heard Mamoru in the background.

"It still wouldn't be enough," Artemis's voice entered the conference communication. "Even if you managed to leave Earth, you wouldn't be able to travel at enough speed. It might be months before you arrive at where Usagi's been taken, assuming you know where you're headed."

They all heard Rei whimper.

"Well we've got to do something!" Makoto exclaimed.

"They're off the screen," Mercury announced, some of the emotion she was holding back seeping into her voice. "They're beyond my computer's ability to track them."

"And you don't know where they're going?" Neptune asked softly.

"Not on that present course," Mercury confirmed. "And that's assuming they maintain that course. They could diverge into one of three hundred and sixty different directions and I have no way of knowing it."

Everyone was silent. It didn't seem possible that Usagi was gone and they had no way of aiding her. But the awful truth continued to stare them all in the face. Finally the images of Uranus and Neptune winked off the communicator screen.

"There's got to be a way," Makoto mumbled, stunned.

"I'll," Mercury offered weakly, "try to extrapolate a possible destination."

Rei's face winked off the screen.

"There's got to be a way," Makoto repeated, terrified by the prospect before her.

"Yeah," Minako agreed. "Fuzzy and me will - - try to think of something."

Mercury disconnected from the conference. She had to think. And remaining on-line was becoming far too painful.

* * *

It had taken a moment for Usagi to adjust. When she did, she could see the rings of Saturn pass by like road signs when her father took everyone to the hot springs and she and Shingo used to look out the window and take in the strange sights. In a way, it was like being in a car speeding past fences and light poles, trees and signs at sixty miles an hour. Only the markers were Neptune, Pluto and Charon, and they were traveling faster than sixty miles an hour.

"Don't be afraid," the strange, alien senshi said. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're not the one I'm after."

Usagi examined this strange woman with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity. There was a commanding presence to her. She was used to fighting, used to leading. There was a strength to every part of her. In a way, the woman reminded her of Haruka: strong, stoic, confident - - and concealing a wound that she would never recover from.

"May I know your name?" Usagi ventured tentatively.

The alien senshi glanced at her as their transport bubble rocketed through space. The question took her by surprise. So did the manner in which Usagi posed it. So, frankly, did Usagi. There was something about this woman that was different from anyone else she'd ever met. After a moment, the senshi's expression softened.

"Forgive my rudeness," she replied. "I've been known by several names over my life. I suppose the one that fits now is an old one. You may refer to me as Sailor Valiant."

"I'm Usagi," the moon princess offered. "Or Sailor Moon, if I'm transformed. So where are you from?"

"Sarhari," Sailor Valiant said, speaking the name softly as if the very mention of the name brought ghosts to life.

"I don't know it," Usagi admitted. "Sorry."

"How many winters have you seen?" Sailor Valiant asked.

"Winters?" Usagi inquired, confused. Then the meaning dawned on her. "Oh. How old am I? Twenty-eight."

"You're too young," the senshi said and a melancholy smirk crossed her lips. "I doubt you were even a senshi when Sarhari existed." Sailor Valiant turned to look ahead of them, emotion clouding her face. "It's been eighteen winters since Sarhari last lived. But it seems like yesterday."

"I'm sorry," Usagi told her. Sailor Valiant looked back at her. It was clear she meant what she said and Sailor Valiant was able to draw some comfort from it. "What happened - - if it's not too painful?"

"She happened," Sailor Valiant answered. The comfort was gone, replaced by the under rumblings of anger.

"She?"

"Galaxia."

"Oh," Usagi whispered. Her face was an open text for Sailor Valiant to read.

"You know of Galaxia," Valiant said, not expecting confirmation. "Your life has been touched by Galaxia's hand. That's what drew me to you. I sense Galaxia's presence in the universe, but I couldn't sense where she was. But you're connected with her. I can find her through you."

"I don't know where she is," Usagi pleaded.

"Not consciously," Valiant replied. "But there is a connection between the two of you and through that connection I will find her."

"And kill her?" Usagi asked anxiously.

"Of course," Valiant answered. The question surprised her.

"What will that accomplish?"

Sailor Valiant's eyes popped. "It will put an end to the greatest scourge in the universe!"

"She's already stopped," Usagi told her. "Sailor Galaxia came to Earth. She tried to destroy it, but I was - - was able to make her see how wrong she was. I was able to free her from the madness she was under and get her to stop."

"If you killed her," Valiant asked, confused, "how am I still able to sense her presence in the universe?"

"I didn't kill her!" gasped Usagi. "I freed her from the madness that drove her to do what she did. Sailor Valiant, she's no longer a threat to anyone."

"As long as she breathes, Galaxia is a threat," scowled Valiant. "And even if she has somehow renounced her murderous ways, there are still bodies piled a billion deep, their blood on her hands. There are still a hundred worlds dead by her hand, stripped of everything that might have sustained life. What of them, Usagi?"

"It's terrible, yes," nodded Usagi. "But vengeance solves nothing. It gives no comfort to the dead and only brings false comfort to the living, a false comfort that quickly turns into more hatred and violence." Usagi reached up and clasped Sailor Valiant's shoulders. "I mourn for your world. I feel your desire for your friends and your people. I wish there was some way to bring them back. This won't. It will only cause more bitterness and destruction."

Sailor Valiant looked Usagi straight in the eye. "It's all I have left to me," she said, then looked straight ahead to direct the transport bubble's course. Any further conversation was cut off and nothing Usagi said could change it.

* * *

Toshihiro looked in on Minako and Artemis. The pair were in the kitchen, furiously working on how they might be able to transport themselves to where Usagi was and rescue her. He wanted to help somehow. He liked Usagi. It was hard to find someone who didn't like Usagi. And he could see the anxiety and stress it was causing Minako, even though she kept a choke hold on it in order to function. But he just directed comedies on television. That wouldn't be much help here. Instead he came over softly and slid a cup of tea into Minako's reach. She glanced up at him and blew him a grateful kiss.

"The energy quotient is just not there," Artemis shook his head after his latest computer simulation ended. "It can't be done."

"Don't say 'can't'! That's defeatist!" barked Minako.

"It's also realistic. That's another term you aren't familiar with," grumbled the white cat.

"Artemis, there's got to be a way!" Minako howled. "Usagi could be in deep trouble right now! She probably needs us! And if we can't get to her, what good are we?"

"Everything you say is right, but you're ignoring the whole picture. Remember when Dimando had Usagi captive on his ship? Remember how hard it was to get to her then? Well multiply that times about a billion and you've got our situation now." The cat let out a frustrated breath. "We'd need a space ship just to have any hope of even getting to her. THEN we'd have to figure out where she is."

"I bet Mamoru could find her if push came to shove," Minako replied. "All he'd have to do is home in on their red string." Just then Minako's eyes widened. "Hey! Didn't you tell me you knew rocket engineering and stuff?"

"Yeah," Artemis began, uncertain of Minako's train of thought. "I was the pilot of the shuttle from Mau to the Crystal Kingdom." He glanced at Toshihiro, who was looking at the cat in surprise. "I was the chief engineer, too. It was a small crew - - me and Luna."

"I see what you're getting at, Mina," Toshihiro exclaimed. "Artemis could build a shuttle to get into space."

Artemis laughed incredulously.

"Don't tell me you can't. I have every confidence in you," Minako proclaimed.

"Oh, sure!" the cat scowled. "I'll start right now. And after three months, I'll have the hull constructed. Then I can start in on programming the guidance system. That should take another month if I don't sleep. Then I'll need another six weeks to construct the booster rocket to get the shuttle into orbit. Oh, and I'll need to get some money from you to buy raw material for the hull, have it shaped and welded, computer equipment, oxygen for life support and something to use for propulsion. Magnetic would be best, but with the current level of scientific progress, I'd probably have to use nuclear fusion for a trip of that distance. Conservatively, it should cost you about six hundred trillion yen!"

"You are such a wet blanket," frowned Minako.

Everybody went silent. The prospect of their defeat stared them into a hush.

"Minako, maybe you'd better knock off and go to bed," Artemis suggested quietly. "I'll keep trying."

"Hell no," Minako grunted.

"You've got that interview tomorrow," the cat reminded her.

"I don't care about that! Usagi's in trouble!"

"Well unless Ami or I find a way to get to her, there's not much you can do for her," Artemis said. "Go. You'll need your wits about you if you're going to face the press."

"How," Minako began, but her voice cracked. Artemis and Toshihiro could see the mask of the invincible senshi cracking, too. "How am I supposed to sleep when my best friend could be facing - - well, who knows what?"

She felt hands close around her arms. Minako looked up and saw Toshihiro bending over her, gently urging her up.

"Come on," Toshihiro said softly. "I'll help you get to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep!" Minako fussed, tears welling. But she didn't resist when Toshihiro guided her to their bedroom. Artemis watched them disappear out the door, then turned back to his impossible task.

"Maybe Luna has some ideas," Artemis murmured, pressing a key on his computer to connect with her in real time video. "Even if she doesn't, I think I need to hear her voice right now."

* * *

The transport bubble came up fast on its destination, so fast that for a fleeting moment Usagi thought they were going to crash. But the bubble set down effortlessly on the terrain and dissipated. Looking up from where she'd been cringing, Usagi surveyed their landing place.

"Ooooh!" she gasped in astonishment. "It's so pretty!"

The place they had landed was lush with plant life. Green and blue leaves were everywhere, growing from sturdy trunks of brown and beige. Flowers budded everywhere in every color of the spectrum and every shade of each color. The fragrance of the air was sweet with pollen and nectar. On the ground, soft lush grasses covered the terrain in varying hues of green. It was if they had landed in Eden itself. Usagi looked up as a gentle breeze played with her trails of golden hair. This world's sun shone vaguely orange in the blue-green sky, but it warmed everything and the plant life reached up hungrily toward it. As she looked, Usagi spotted a squadron of butterfly-like insects efficiently scouring the flowers in the upper limbs of giant green bush-tree hybrids for nectar to nourish them. It was all absolutely fantastic to her. Usagi found herself wishing Mamoru and the gang were here so they could enjoy the scene as well.

"Oh Sailor Valiant, isn't it just wonderful?" Usagi exclaimed, turning to her traveling companion. That was when she noticed the senshi surveying the land with a determined eye and a cold demeanor. Usagi's spirits fell. "Who are you looking for? Sailor Galaxia?"

"Yes," Sailor Valiant murmured. "She's here, too. I can sense her now. I can sense her aura. It's still as powerful as I remember."

"Can't you let this go?" Usagi ventured.

"No," Sailor Valiant said, looking Usagi directly in the eye. "When we find her, I suggest you seek cover. You're not at a level that can stand up to the energies that might exchange and you might get hurt." Valiant looked away, ostensibly to search for Galaxia. "Don't worry. I'll take you home after . . ."

Just then, they both heard the foliage rustling. Sailor Valiant whirled and crouched at battle ready. Usagi merely turned to the sound inquisitively. They could see a figure in the brush coming toward them, but it wasn't a charge or a belligerent motion. Still Sailor Valiant stood at the ready. Finally enough brush parted so the stranger's face could be seen.

"Sailor Moon!" Sailor Galaxia exclaimed with happy surprise. "You're the last person I expected to see here! Oh, but it's certainly good to see you again!"

Continued in Chapter 7


	7. Burden Of The Living

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 7: "Burden Of The Living"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Sailor Valiant tensed, ready for any attack. Usagi, on the other hand, took a tentative step forward, her face hopeful and buoyant, a smile stretching from ear to ear as the light of recognition danced in her deep blue eyes.

The woman was shorter than Sailor Valiant, at four feet eleven inches just Usagi's height. She had a pleasant face made more beautiful by the radiant smile on it, and her figure was compact and robust. It was clothed in a simple brown robe with a hood that could be drawn up to shield the wearer from the glaring sun. The most remarkable feature of the woman, though, was her thick flowing hair that cascaded down her back nearly to the ground. The roots were golden yellow with a hint of orange mixed in. About shoulder level, her hair changed to brilliant orange, while at waist level her hair changed again to a fiery red. There was little to suggest this was the most feared entity in the universe.

"Sailor Moon!" Galaxia exclaimed and swept in, capturing Usagi in a hug. Usagi was startled at first by the easy familiarity of the woman, but she quickly warmed to it and returned the embrace. "I thought I would never see you again! Welcome, Sailor Moon, and thank you for visiting me!"

"I would have looked in on you sooner," Usagi offered as an excuse, "but I didn't really have any way to get to you. How are you doing?"

Galaxia pulled back and looked Usagi over, still beaming happily. "My mission keeps me out of trouble," she winked wryly. "I have my health and I have - - the others. I get lonely once in a while, but it's no less than I deserve."

"Don't say that!" gasped Usagi. "Nobody deserves to be alone!"

"I see your personality hasn't changed," Galaxia smiled. "Oh, but you have! You've grown since I last saw you!"

"Just my hips," Usagi rolled her eyes ruefully.

All this time, Sailor Valiant just stared in confusion at what was taking place before her. The last thing she expected was what seemed like a reunion between two old schoolmates. And this squat, simply-dressed and mild-mannered woman was a far cry from the golden-armored terror who laid waste to her world and everyone she knew and loved. Finally it became too much for her.

"Hold!" barked Sailor Valiant. Usagi and Galaxia turned to her. "You - - are Galaxia?"

The joy left Galaxia's face. She became solemn, though without belligerence. "I answered to that name once," she replied.

Fury took hold of Sailor Valiant. "Sword of Justice!" she bellowed. The energy sword formed in her hand. As it did, Usagi acted.

"Moon Eternal Make Up!" she cried. As the transformation took hold, Sailor Valiant drew her energy sword back to slash. Galaxia stood still, neither retreating nor taking any sort of defensive stance. Once she was transformed, Sailor Moon jumped in front of Galaxia to shield her. "No, Sailor Valiant! Please don't!"

"MOVE, SAILOR MOON!" snarled Sailor Valiant angrily. "MOVE OR DIE BY HER SIDE!"

"Please, Sailor Moon," Galaxia said, easing Sailor Moon to one side with her hands. "Don't interfere on my behalf. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But. . .!" Sailor Moon started to argue, but Galaxia faced Sailor Valiant directly.

"Why do you want me dead?" Galaxia asked Valiant. "I can guess, but I'd prefer to hear it from you."

"Don't you remember me?" Valiant snapped. "Don't you remember Sarhari? Don't you remember how you and your animates BUTCHERED IT and EVERYONE WHO LIVED THERE?"

Galaxia looked down. "No, I don't," she said. "You seem vaguely familiar, but I'm afraid with all the worlds and all the lives I destroyed, they tend to blur together. So you're a survivor of one of my attacks?"

"YES!" bellowed Valiant. "And I'm going to end your foul existence forever, in the name of all those on my planet who you callously destroyed!"

"Sailor Valiant, please don't do this!" wailed Sailor Moon. "Revenge does nothing except spread hatred and destruction!"

"Sailor Moon, please don't put yourself at risk on my account," Galaxia reiterated. She turned back to Sailor Valiant. "If taking my life will ease the burden you carry, then it's yours. I won't move to defend myself. I only ask one thing. Once you've killed me, take over my mission."

With that, billions of star seeds began to materialize and shimmer in the sky around them all. They were so thick, their number blotted out the sun. All around them, the star seeds hovered, each one giving off a warm light. Both Sailor Valiant and Sailor Moon could sense the life that existed within each of them.

"Since Sailor Moon freed me from my delusion of superiority and from the corrupting influence of Chaos," Galaxia explained, "I have traveled from world to world, seeking out each world that I destroyed. I've used my power as an evolved senshi to cultivate the remnants of life on these scarred and dead worlds and help them to bloom again. I've restored the eco-systems and, where I can, brought some of these star seeds back to some form of life. I do it because it needs to be done and it's my responsibility. Sailor Moon showed me that and she was right."

Sailor Moon looked at Galaxia proudly.

"This mission is too important not to be completed!" Galaxia continued. "If you must kill me, you must continue the mission after I'm gone! It's too important!" Galaxia took a moment to reclaim control of herself. "But if you can't accept the burden of this mission, please don't kill me until I've finished."

Sailor Valiant stared. This was the last thing she expected to encounter when she set out to find Sailor Galaxia. And then the star seeds around them began to hum. Some of them quivered as they floated. The sound from them grew until it seemed to surround everyone. But only Sailor Valiant seemed to react. The woman cringed suddenly, her hands cupped over her ears. The energy sword fell to the ground and dissipated. She bent over under the weight of the hum.

"NO!" Valiant cried. "So many minds! So many voices! I can't . . .!" Then she straightened up and stared in horror at nothing in particular. "K-Kalen? I . . .no!"

And she sank to the ground, unconscious. With a squeal of alarm, Sailor Moon ran up and knelt beside her.

"I guess the burden was too much for her," Galaxia said softly as she moved to join Sailor Moon.

* * *

"Frankly, Artemis, I've run out of suggestions," Luna related over the real time video link from her computer to his. The black cat had been running scenarios with her partner through the night.

"I've got you beat," Artemis replied with dejection. "I ran out of suggestions two hours ago. It's just not physically possible to get the senshi from here to there - - wherever 'there' is."

"It seems so hopeless," Luna whispered.

"Well," Artemis began, "we're just going to have to depend on Usagi to be able to handle it."

"I'd have more ability to do that if I weren't looking at her studio at this moment," Luna replied. The room had brushes in cups, bottles of ink and erasers strewn everywhere and empty juice bottles sitting at the foot of her drawing board. A page from her current manga was tacked to her board. Above it was a note with her deadline.

"Well, they say the student reflects the teacher," Artemis said. That comment drew a fisheye look from Luna. "And since you were her teacher, I'm sure she'll do fine."

"Diplomatically put," Luna smirked at him. "Although I'll only feel better about this situation when she's back home and I can get her by the nape of her neck." She paused to reflect a moment. "I suppose I should check in on Mamoru before I attempt to get some rest. He was quite distraught last night."

"You've got the easy job," snickered Artemis. "I've got to break it to Minako. But, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it. Talk to you later, Beautiful. Hopefully I'll have some news."

As the picture snapped off, Luna felt her cheeks flushing again. One of these days he was going to get past her defenses and catch her in a weak moment.

Hopping to the floor, Luna strolled out into the living room. That's where she'd left Mamoru the previous night. He'd been staring off into space, crushed by his failure to protect Usagi, and since he hadn't passed the studio on the way to the bedroom, Luna assumed he had fallen asleep on the sofa.

"That's odd," the little black cat remarked when she found the living room empty. "He isn't here. Where could he have gone? I do remember him calling his office to cancel his appointments."

Just then, Luna received an odd sensation. She couldn't explain it, but something told her to go up to the apartment building roof. Her tail twitching, the cat made her way to the top of the building.

There, sitting in a lotus position, was Mamoru. He was guised as Tuxedo Mask and while the position seemed very difficult for someone as long and lanky as Tuxedo Mask was, he showed no outward signs of discomfort. As he sat, he had his eyes closed and was deep in concentration. Luna could feel waves of energy radiating from him. She approached curiously. Drawing nearer, the cat could see a faint golden aura around Tuxedo Mask.

"Tuxedo Mask?" Luna ventured.

There was no answer.

"Forgive me for intruding," she tried again.

"I'm trying to project my energy into space," Tuxedo Mask replied. He kept his body still. "If I can do that, I can home in on where Usako is and get to her."

"I was unaware you were able to convert your body to an energy form," Luna told him.

"I don't know if I can," Tuxedo Mask replied grimly. "But I have to try." His jaw clenched. "I failed her last night. I don't want to fail her again."

"Have you sensed anything?" Luna asked. "Your connection with her is deeper than any we have. Is she in danger?"

"I haven't sensed anything," Tuxedo Mask said, keeping his body rigid and his eyes closed. "I can't sense her at all. I don't know if that's because she's too far away - - or if something's happened."

"I see," Luna answered with dampened hopes. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't try to dissuade you from your efforts. You've a plan, at least. It's more than we've come up with. Only," and she touched his knee with her front paw, "don't damage yourself attempting to get to her. It would upset her greatly."

A small smile sprouted on Tuxedo Mask's face. "I'll try," he told her. "But I can't guarantee my judgment about those things in situations like this. I may just have to hurt myself getting her back and listen to her scold me."

Luna only nodded. Turning away, she headed back for the apartment while Tuxedo Mask doggedly kept trying to do what he'd never done before.

* * *

Sailor Valiant was still sleeping. She seemed troubled in her sleep, though, and her mouth moved with unvoiced pleas or regrets. Sailor Moon, reverted back to Usagi, squatted next to her and watched the woman. It didn't seem to her like she was doing much for Sailor Valiant, but she didn't know what else to do. Ami would know, or Minako or Makoto or even Rei. She didn't. And thinking of that made her wonder how everyone was coping on Earth. Usagi hoped they weren't worried about her. Somehow she knew Mamoru would be, though, and that bothered her - - even though deep down there was a little part of her that was glad for it.

Finally she rose to her feet. Watching over Valiant and not knowing what to do wasn't helping either of them - - and her knees were beginning to hurt. So Usagi wandered away from the shade tree that Sailor Valiant was resting under and headed over to the glen where Sailor Galaxia was. More of the strange insects that resembled butterflies fluttered around the glen. One landed on her shoulder and seemed to stare at her inquisitively. Usagi giggled and gently brought her hand up to it. The insect crawled onto her index finger and slowly flexed its wings for a beat. Then it launched into the air and headed for a flower overhead.

Galaxia was sitting in the center of the glen. One of the star seeds hovered before her with Galaxia's hands on either side of it, each about six inches from it. Her hands had a faint golden glow and the star seed was taking on that color by reflection. Usagi wandered over.

"How is my other guest doing?" Galaxia asked. She seemed to sense Usagi's approach without looking.

"She's still sleeping," Usagi reported. "Is she going to be all right?"

"I think so. The mental energy from billions of star seeds can be a little overwhelming if you're not used to it." She glanced at Usagi. "Can you hear them?"

Usagi paused for a moment. "Faintly. Maybe it's me."

"They're just at rest right now," Galaxia told her. "They were agitated before, when they thought the other one was going to kill me."

"They must like you a lot," Usagi grinned.

"I wouldn't think so," Galaxia darkened. "They don't really have any reason. But they understand that I'm their only hope of regaining life. I think that's more the reason."

"Galaxia," Usagi began.

"Please," the other senshi cut her off, her expression pained. "That's the name of a person I don't want to be anymore. There's too many bad memories connected with that name - - too much animosity."

"I understand," Usagi offered. "What should I call you?"

A nostalgic smile grew on the senshi's face. "Once - - a long time ago - - I was known as Senenthia Om. That will do fine."

"Senenthia? How pretty," Usagi smiled. "Then you can call me Usagi if you like." She glanced at the star seed. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing this star seed back to life," Senenthia replied with a hint of melancholy. "It was once native to this world. You see, Usagi, I can only reintroduce a star seed onto the world it originally came from. Otherwise it won't take. That's why I'm still tending to so many of them." She glanced up at Usagi with a playful glint. "Do you recognize it?"

Usagi looked at the star seed curiously. Suddenly an impression began to form in her mind.

"That's," Usagi gasped. "That's Tin Nyanko! But wasn't she destroyed?"

"Her body was destroyed," Senenthia explained. "It was only kept alive by my wristbands anyway. Before she was Tin Nyanko, she was Sailor Nyanko here on Mau, and she surrendered her star seed willingly to live on as an animate. She was the hero of Mau. And before that, she was Moonstalker of Mau." The melancholy came back into Senenthia's voice and demeanor. "And now it's her turn to be reborn."

The golden glow around Senenthia's hands grew in intensity until the star seed was completely enveloped in it. The light obscured all trace of it from Usagi's eyes. Then it dissipated. Senenthia stooped from exertion, her head lolled forward. And where the star seed had been, now there was one of the butterfly-like insects. It began to flutter its wings and climbed into the sky toward the flowering trees above.

"Senenthia?" Usagi began, her confusion obvious. "I don't understand. Why didn't you remake her as a human?"

"I can't," Senenthia replied, her voice choked with emotion. "I don't have that kind of power. None of us do. It's all I can do to create this elementary form and implant her star seed into it." Senenthia raised her head with great effort and stared out at the Eden she had created. "Oh, Usagi, I took so much from them! And no matter what I do, I can never give them back everything they lost! I can't make it the way it was!" Her breath shuddered out. "She'll live out her days that way. She'll be an important cog in the eco-system of the planet. One day her off-spring will evolve and reclaim the planet." Tears rolled down Senenthia's cheeks. "But she'll never be Moonstalker of Mau again. And it's all my fault!"

Usagi knelt down and hugged Senenthia's head to her breast.

"I honestly thought I was doing the right thing when I set out to purge the universe of war and chaos!" wailed Senenthia. "But it all went so horribly wrong! And no matter what I do, it's never going to be the way it was! Damn me for my arrogance! Damn me to the pits!"

"Would they be better off as star seeds?" Usagi asked softly.

"I guess not," Senenthia whimpered. "From what they're able to communicate to me, any existence is preferable to the non-existence they have now."

"Then you're helping them," Usagi assured her.

"It's not enough," Senenthia shook her head, still cradled against Usagi. "It'll never be enough!"

Unnoticed by them, Sailor Valiant watched them grimly from afar.

Continued in Chapter 8


	8. A Message From The Heart

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 8: "A Message From The Heart"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Rei woke up suddenly. There were a few moments of disorientation before she realized that she was sprawled on the floor of the room her fire pit was in. She felt flushed from heat and the air in the room was acrid with smoke. Shoving herself up to a sitting position, Rei looked at the fire pit. The fire was out, but the pit itself was still warm and the embers gave off some residual heat.

"I must have fainted from the heat again," Rei thought to herself, exhaling in frustration. "This is getting to be a bad habit. And what's worse, I didn't get a vision. Maybe I'm going to the gods too often."

Letting her head loll back, Rei ran her fingers through her hair and shook out the black mane behind her. Her priest robes pressed tight against her chest. Finishing with her hair, Rei just sat on her knees and looked absently at the fire pit.

"Oh, Usagi! I wish I knew where you are," Rei grimaced, silently fretting. "I wish I could get some sign that you were at least all right!"

And suddenly Sailor Moon appeared directly before Rei, between her and the fire pit. The priest was so startled that she toppled backwards and landed on her shoulders. Rei stared up at her friend in amazement.

"Usako?" gasped Mamoru, for at the exact moment Rei was seeing Sailor Moon in her shrine, he was seeing Sailor Moon standing on the roof of their apartment building. Scrambling to his feet, Mamoru reached for her, only to have his hands pass through her. It was then he realized that she was some sort of projection - - or an illusion.

"Hi, everyone," the wraith Sailor Moon said, smiling timidly. "I-I just wanted to let you know that I'm OK."

"Hon', where are you?" Makoto gasped, looking at the same image of Sailor Moon standing in her living room. Ichiro was on the sofa, staring at the image as well.

"Sailor Moom!" he squealed and pointed.

"Obviously it's a one-way communication," Ami thought when the image of Sailor Moon that had sprouted out of the hood of her Toyota didn't respond to her question. The sudden appearance had nearly caused Ami to collide with another car on her commute to work. Pulling over to the side, she listened intently.

"I'm on Mau," Sailor Moon said. "Sailor Valiant is with me and so is Senenthia - - um, I mean Sailor Galaxia."

"Galaxia?" choked Minako. She was in the bathroom, in a robe. Her hair was in a towel and she held eyeliner in her hands, one eye done and the other bare. "When the Hell did Sailor Galaxia get mixed up in this?"

"We're," Sailor Moon began, then grimaced self-consciously. "Settling a, well, a dispute - - between them. I'll tell you all about it when I get home - - whenever that will be. Sorry."

"Sailor Moon, don't get mixed up in anything you can't handle!" Rei practically screamed at the vision. But, to her growing frustration, it didn't respond to her.

"Please don't worry," Sailor Moon continued. "I'll be all right. I can't wait to see you all again. Good-bye for now, Mamo-Chan. I love you."

And with that, the vision of Sailor Moon winked out as suddenly as it had appeared. Rei just stared, dumbfounded. Then she sensed another presence in the room. Looking, she saw Akira-Sensei standing in the doorway. It was unclear how much he had witnessed, but it was clear he had witnessed some of it. Rei's spirits sank.

"How do you ALWAYS manage to make my life more complicated, Ditz?" Rei grumbled.

Back at the Manabe apartment, Artemis was fielding frantic calls from the other senshi while Minako stood over his shoulder, still in a robe and towel turban.

"Artemis, she said she was on Mau!" Luna exclaimed. "Mau's a dead world!"

"I don't know any more than you do, Luna," Artemis told her.

"Hey, at least we know she's all right and we know where she is," Makoto summarized. "Any chance of us joining her?"

"Well, Mau's a lot closer than some other planets she could be on," Artemis explained. "If we had some environmental platforms that we could jump to, we could make the trip in segments."

"However, we don't have the necessary environmentally-friendly planets or moons to use as jump points," Ami advised. "It still won't work without Usagi."

"At least we know who Sailor Muscles' real target was," Minako pointed out. "You got to figure Usagi's safe. That's something."

"As long as she doesn't get caught up in the dispute between this Sailor Valiant and Sailor Galaxia," Luna added. "Still, I fear we all know our dear Usagi far too well to believe that."

Everyone on the conference call nodded their head ruefully. Suddenly Rei's face appeared on the line.

"Hey, everyone!" she exclaimed. "I just saw a vision of Sailor Moon!"

"Old news," smirked Minako. "Where have you been?" Rei scowled her reply.

On Mau, Sailor Moon let go of Senenthia's hand and smiled at her.

"Thank you for helping me with that," Sailor Moon said. "I just know Mamo-Chan and the others were all worried sick about me." She grew self-conscious. "It's really amazing some of the things you can do."

"You'll be able to do them too, soon," Senenthia assured her.

"I don't see how," Sailor Moon marveled.

"You will," the woman smirked at Sailor Moon. "You just haven't reached the proper level of spiritual growth yet. When you evolve into your queen form, you'll be able to do so many more things than you can now. It's a revelation, Usagi. And I think you may become the single greatest senshi queen figure in the history of the universe."

"No way," chuckled Sailor Moon.

"Who was it who stopped my rampage?" Senenthia asked pointedly.

"You did," Usagi shrugged. "I only pointed the way to you."

A wide grin took over Senenthia's mouth. "Well, it's certain that what happened to me will never happen to you," she remarked. "You're far too humble." She reached out and caught Sailor Moon's hand. "Never lose that humility, Usagi, please. When you ascend, you'll be tempted to use your new power to right so many things you see as wrong. Don't do it! It's a trap! I fell into it and now I'm the most despised life form in the universe. Don't force them down the path, Usagi. Show them the path, like you did for me. Offer to walk down the path with them and keep them safe, but let them choose whether they want to walk it. It really is the best way."

"All right, Senenthia," Sailor Moon nodded.

Senenthia Om expelled a breath. "Could you pardon me, Usagi. Between rebirthing that star seed and transmitting your message, I'm a little tired. Even ascended, we get tired."

"Don't give it a second thought, Senenthia!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "You take as much time as you need. I'll find something to do. Maybe I can look in on Sailor Valiant and see how she's doing."

"She's already up and around," Senenthia replied, curling up under a tree. "But yes, try to work your magic on her. She really seems like a tortured soul and, other than my dying, I don't think there's much I can do for her."

* * *

"I really don't want to do this," Minako thought to herself.

She was sitting in a chair in a studio. The setting was sparsely decorated, consisting of two neutrally colored backdrops, one behind her and one behind the person interviewing her. Each woman had a chair to sit on. To one side was a simple table with a vase of flowers. The chairs sat on a round carpeted platform six feet in diameter. The stage was lit so that the photographer could pick up each participant, but not the bare walls behind the backdrops.

Sitting opposite her was Star Wakamatsu, lead reporter and columnist for Video Idol Magazine. The woman was thirty-six, petite with black horn-rimmed glasses and stylishly short black hair. Her small body was sharply dressed in the trendiest fashions. It was as if she were trying to out-glamor Minako, who was dressed to put herself in the best light as well. Sadly the reporter was sorely lacking in comparison to her subject.

"So tell me, Aino-San," Star began.

"Please, it's Minako," Minako smiled radiantly. The camera began flashing.

"Thank you," Star nodded. "What was your reaction to the revelation of the photos showing you nude?"

"Disappointment, I guess," the star replied. "I knew they weren't real, since I've never posed nude. But I knew not everybody would know that. So that meant all that hard work I put in trying to make it in the entertainment business the right way might be compromised."

"You weren't morally outraged?" Star asked.

"By someone with too much time on their hands digitally erasing my clothing on old pictures of me?" Minako answered, specifically pointing out facts she wanted in the article. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her agent nodding with approval. "There are more important things in the world to worry about, Star. It's an annoyance, but there isn't a whole lot I can do about it. I just have to keep believing and keep hoping that the people who like me as an idol know I would never do something like that."

"But don't you feel victimized?" the reporter pressed her.

"Of course," Minako nodded, flashing her pearl-white smile briefly. "It's like somebody spreading lies about me. It hurts my reputation and it hurts my image in the eyes of my fans and what they think is very important to me. I'd love to make it all go away somehow, but that's not realistic. The best thing I can do is just let it pass and keep doing my best for the people who pay to see me." Her agent was in seventh heaven in the wings.

"Minako," Star began, shifting gears. "What are your feelings on nudity?"

"It's a personal choice," Minako responded, covering her caution with a jaunty air. "I'm the last person to be telling other people how to live their lives. Of course, there is a time where it isn't acceptable. I wouldn't want anybody running naked through the Diet during a session - - although it might liven up some sessions." She smiled, waiting for Star's reaction. When she got the small grin she was waiting for, Minako knew her joke had gone over.

"But you personally, Minako," Star continued. "Would you ever pose nude?"

"Ohh," Minako hesitated. "I hate to limit myself as an artist. I can assure you that you won't see me in some hentai magazine, but if I got a script that called for it and I thought it was crucial to the success of the picture, I guess I'd really have to think hard about doing it. Of course, the director is going to have to give me candy and flowers first," she smirked and got the same reaction from Star.

"Do you think this incident will negatively affect your career?" the reporter inquired.

"I hope not," Minako replied. "I really like what I'm doing. Entertaining is making people happy and you can't know how wonderful a feeling that is," Minako replied - - and now she wasn't acting. "It's all I've ever wanted to do with my life. It would be cruel for some - - internet prank to interfere with my ability to do that."

"Is there trouble? Have you gotten negative reaction from your fans, or from the people who put out your television series?"

"Nothing from the fans," Minako said, reverting to character. "They've been very supportive, and I'm very grateful. And nothing from my record label, from which I have a new CD coming out in August, or the production company where I start filming my role in "Teahouse Warrior", which is due out next year." She leaned in conspiratorially. "Gotta get those plugs in. The producers of my television show, 'Island Princess', are a little concerned. I don't think it will amount to much if the public lets them know that they aren't worried about some faked photos."

"Could you lose your series over this?" Star asked, sensing a new angle.

"Well, the success of the series is always up to the whim of the public, Star," Minako cut her off. "That hasn't changed. If they keep tuning in, I promise I'll do the best I can for them."

Things continued in that general vein for another twenty minutes. After the interview wrapped, Minako and Takashi, her agent, strolled down the hall toward the exit door. Star had already buzzed off to write her article.

"Minako," Takashi marveled, "for someone so new to this industry, you handled her like a pro. You had her in the palm of your hand by the end of that interview."

"Shows you how good of an actress I am," smirked Minako. "Me being humble has to be the performance of a lifetime."

"Well it was the right call," he assured her. "Hell, every answer you gave her was the absolute right call. And I could tell she was ready to pounce on the first misstep you made. Wakamatsu is like that. She loves controversy."

"So do you think this is going to get the production company off my back? I REALLY have other things to worry about right now."

He patted Minako on the back. "You never know with this goofy business. But I think it's a safe assumption."

* * *

It had been a long and tiring day at the hospital for Ami. Trying to multi-task between her many patients and wondering how Usagi was doing pressed her to her physical and intellectual limits. Though medicine was important to her, she was glad it was the end of her shift and she could go home. Unless anything new came up concerning Usagi, she thought she might spend the time just relaxing.

"Maybe I'll start reading that new book on quantum physics I picked up," Ami thought. The idea of soaking in a bubble bath with a thick quantum physics book had a naughty appeal to it.

It was then she heard footsteps in the parking garage. Inherently cautious, Ami searched until she located the sound. It was a woman approaching her from the elevator. Any thoughts that she was headed for her car were immediately dismissed. The woman was headed straight for her. She was in her early twenties, slim and petite, with shoulder-length straight black hair and timid eyes that hid behind black frame glasses. Her attire was casual but chosen not to attract attention to herself. As she got closer, Ami finally recognized her. It was Aiko Tazawa, one of the nurses who bounced between first and third shift.

"Dr. Mizuno?" she ventured, but not until she was right up next to Ami, close enough so as not to be risking someone overhearing her. "May I talk to you? It's about - - well, . . ."

"Go ahead," Ami prodded.

The young nurse hesitated, then gathered her nerve. "It's about Dr. Yamaguchi." Nervously she brushed her hair back. "The rumor around the hospital . . ."

"It really is counterproductive to engage in circulating and perpetuating rumors, Nurse Tazawa," Ami advised her. She really didn't want to listen to someone else defend Dr. Yamaguchi at her expense.

"But they say you reported Dr. Yamaguchi to the administrators," Tazawa persisted. "You said he was negligent and-and caused a patient's death. Is that right?"

"Nurse Tazawa," Ami began, trying to be patient yet firm.

"Was it because he's forgetful?" Tazawa blurted out. And with that, Ami's demeanor changed.

"Have you seen behavior in Dr. Yamaguchi that concerns you?" Ami asked her.

Tazawa looked down, reluctant to continue. Ami waited for her to make up her mind. She wouldn't press the issue.

"A month ago," Tazawa began, grimacing as if she'd stepped on a tack, "Dr. Yamaguchi had me administer a dose of morphine to a patient being treated for acute gastric carcinoma. The patient was in a lot of pain, from the tumor itself and from the radiation treatments themselves. It was perfectly logical and I did it without any questions."

"What happened then?" Ami asked.

"A few minutes later he came back in to the patient's room. I was still there, changing the IV. He told me to give the patient the exact same dose of morphine. I told him I already had, and he became angry with me. Accused me of dereliction of duty. Then," and Tazawa grew somewhat emotional, "he snatched up the vial and did the injection himself! Well the patient was in shock within a half hour of the dosing! She nearly died!"

"What was his reaction?"

"He was there," Tazawa told her. "Dr. Yamaguchi was brilliant. He and Nurse Azuma pulled that poor woman back. I can understand how Dr. Yamaguchi got his reputation. He saved her." The nurse clouded over. "But - - if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have needed saving in the first place."

"Did you confront Dr. Yamaguchi?" Ami asked, studying the nurse's reactions.

"No!" gasped Tazawa. "I'm only second year! And it was kind of like Dr. Yamaguchi realized what had happened. I did tell Nurse Azuma. She just mumbled something about it being a good thing we could pull her through. And that was it."

"Have you gone to the administration with this?" Ami queried her.

"No," Tazawa admitted. "I've kind of been scared to. I don't know how they'd react. Dr. Yamaguchi is pretty popular and he has a lot of seniority." She looked intensely at Ami. "Do you think I should?"

Ami was about to answer, but stopped. Her report hadn't accomplished anything beyond netting some scorn for her. She could take it, but in her opinion Nurse Tazawa was less secure in her position than she was. It was the right thing to do, but doing the right thing often took the courage of one's convictions and Ami wasn't sure Nurse Tazawa possessed that courage yet.

"Well," Ami began, "perhaps the hospital administration will act on my report and there will be no need for you to do so. It might be - - safest - - to wait and see."

"All right," Tazawa nodded. "If you think I should." She turned to go, but Ami stopped her. Tazawa turned back inquiringly.

"But Nurse Tazawa," Ami added. "If you happen to work with Dr. Yamaguchi again, perhaps you can take extra care to see that - - um, he doesn't experience another - - lapse."

Tazawa took a moment to digest this. Then she gave Ami a solemn nod.

Continued in Chapter 9


	9. The Request

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 9: "The Request"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Senenthia Om, the woman who once frightened a universe as Sailor Galaxia, opened her eyes. She felt refreshed, though a bit disoriented. The rest had done her good. So had her time with Usagi, the senshi from Earth. Was it loneliness that made her take so much benefit from the woman's presence? Or was it Usagi? What was it about that woman that seemed to lift a being's spirits? Senenthia lay in the grass, still curled up on her right hip, and thought of Usagi. She did feel better in the woman's presence. Though the guilt of her past still clouded any chance she felt she might have for lasting peace and happiness, somehow it all seemed to be a little easier to take when Usagi smiled at her and encouraged her to think better of herself.

"I think The Light Of Hope found the right person to reside within," Senenthia mused. "She's certainly a much more worthy candidate than anyone else I can think of. Certainly more worthy than I was. I hope I'm still around when she reaches her full potential."

A shadow joined the shade of the tree Senenthia was under. Though she glanced over her shoulder at the presence behind her, Senenthia already knew who it was.

"So Sailor Valiant," Senenthia said calmly and without reproach. "Have you come to kill me? Or have you thought of a better use for me?"

"Don't mock me," Sailor Valiant said, her voice controlled but dripping with menace and hatred. "Not after what you did."

"I wasn't mocking you," Senenthia replied, rolling easily to a sitting position so as not to provoke the other. "But if you took offense, I apologize. What do you wish of me?"

Sailor Valiant glared.

"You don't trust me," Senenthia remarked. "I'm not really surprised."

"It's difficult to trust Sailor Galaxia, wrecker of worlds," Valiant scowled.

"Then don't think of me as Galaxia," Senenthia answered. "Think of me as Senenthia. And do you have a name other than Sailor Valiant?"

Again Sailor Valiant only glared.

"As you wish," Senenthia scowled, her head coming to rest on her hand, her elbow propped up by a bent knee. "I don't mean to be rude or dismissive, but could you come to the point? If you want your revenge, take it. If you want something else, tell me. But if you're just going to glare at me, I have work to do."

Senenthia started to push up to her feet. Immediately Sailor Valiant struck, seizing Senenthia by the wrist and hauling her to her feet. Valiant's other hand pinned the woman's right shoulder to the tree while she kept control of the woman's left wrist. Senenthia could tell this woman was very strong in normal times, and her twisting, writhing emotional turmoil was lending even more strength to her. Their eyes locked and Sailor Valiant's burned with naked loathing. Then, just as suddenly, Valiant's face turned up to the heavens in anguish.

"OH, CURSE THE GODS FOR MAKING ME DEPENDANT UPON THIS - - THIS CREATURE!" roared Sailor Valiant, roared like a wounded animal. Senenthia looked on, puzzled by Valiant's actions, but sensing her pain. This was one more ripple from the actions of her past.

"What is it, Sailor Valiant?" Senenthia prodded. "What do you want?"

They locked eyes again and there was desperation in Sailor Valiant's now.

"Those star seeds!" Valiant cried out. "One of them - - I sensed one of them is Kalen Tu!"

"If you sensed it, it's probably true," Senenthia told her. "Was this Kalen Tu important to you?"

"He was everything to me," Valiant answered, seeing cherished memories of the past now instead of the senshi before her. "He calmed me when I was anguished. He gave me joy. He gave me the strength to go on. I was never more of a woman than I was when I was by his side."

"Then his seed is here," Senenthia said, "and you sensed it. A bond like that can't be disguised."

"And the others?" Valiant demanded desperately.

"Friends? Fellow senshi? If I took their star seeds, they're still here." Valiant seized Senenthia by the shoulders again.

"Bring them back!" Sailor Valiant pleaded. "Please! Bring them back! If you wish to pay your debt to me and to my world, to pay it without bloodshed - - brink them back!"

And for reasons Sailor Valiant couldn't possibly guess, Senenthia Om grew a pained look and her eyes began to tear. And a cold fear spread through Sailor Valiant, one she hadn't experienced since that day eighteen cycles ago when she watched this woman's scythe of destruction reap everything Sailor Valiant had loved.

* * *

Kaname Mizuno was at the kitchen table, absently picking at a bowl of fried shrimp with her chopsticks while she read an article in the latest medical journal. It was a rundown on the latest technology in sonigrams and its uses in pre-natal care. Such solitary evenings were now the norm for Kaname Mizuno. Neither television nor the internet interested her other than as tools to learn with and as she approached fifty the thought of dating seemed more and more pointless. She did go out occasionally, but the last time she had was to see - - surreptitiously - - an exhibit of landscape paintings by Koji Mizuno, her ex. Ami stopped by occasionally, but not often. Either she was too busy with something or Ami was and their schedules never seemed to match up.

The door buzzer was a surprise. Kaname looked up at the unexpected intrusion, then walked over to the door. After looking through the peephole, she quickly pulled the door open.

"Ami!" Kaname exclaimed, finding her daughter at the door. "This is a pleasant surprise. Come in! Have you had dinner?"

"Yes, I ate at the hospital," Ami told her.

"Then you haven't had a 'proper' meal," Kaname said wryly, ushering her into the kitchen. Ami peered into the bowl on the table.

"Fried shrimp?" Ami asked. "I thought you knew better."

"Your father isn't the only weakness I have that's bad for me," Kaname replied. Then she mellowed. "I'm glad you stopped by. We really don't do this often enough for my tastes."

Ami's brow furrowed. "Well, this isn't just a social call," she admitted. "I wanted to ask your advice on something."

"Professional or personal?"

"It's a little of both," Ami hesitated, "but primarily professional. Are you familiar with Dr. Yamaguchi? He works on the floor I do, in general practice."

"Goro Yamaguchi?" Kaname remarked. "He's been at that hospital for thirty years. I interned under him for a while when I was just starting out. He's brilliant."

The assessment only made Ami feel worse.

"Ami? Is there a problem between you and Dr. Yamaguchi?"

"I'm surprised word hasn't gotten to pediatrics yet," Ami scowled. "It seems to be everywhere else. Mother," and Ami hesitated, still intimidated by her mother even after all these years, "I believe Dr. Yamaguchi is suffering from chronic memory lapses. I have no idea from what. But I believe those lapses caused him to double dose a patient and send him into a fatal cardiac arrest."

"I see," Kaname replied, her sadness for her colleague matched by her sympathy for her daughter.

"And I've come across information that he nearly killed a second patient in the same manner."

"You reported it, of course," Kaname inquired.

"Of course. That is, I reported the first incident. I don't know whether to report the second," Ami related.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"The person I heard it from would be reluctant to come forward and corroborate the story. Dr. Yamaguchi is a very well liked and respected doctor at the hospital," Ami explained. "He seems insulted by the general insinuation that he might no longer be capable of practicing medicine at the hospital level. And I'm getting the impression that neither the administration nor some of the staff of General Surgery wish to hear anymore concerning this." Ami looked at her mother. "What would you do in this situation?"

"I'd report it," Kaname replied without hesitation. "Ami, you know what's right isn't always what's popular. Now I don't want to see anything bad happen to Goro Yamaguchi. I have tremendous respect for him. But age and infirmity catches up to us all. And if such an infirmity has made even a brilliant doctor like Goro Yamaguchi a threat to the well-being of the people he's treating, then he has to stop."

"Logical, of course, Mother," Ami grimaced. "That was my thinking as well. And yet, it just seems like I'm doing something terrible here. There seems to be little support from the administration or . . ."

"Well, the administration is often more concerned with profits and perception than practicality," Kaname told her. "Ami, if you want, I can speak with Goro. Perhaps I can find out what's wrong, or possibly convince him to stop practicing until his condition can be alleviated."

"I hate to involve you, Mother," Ami acquiesced.

"It's all right," Kaname smiled. "I still have a maternal instinct where you're concerned. Besides, it's up to someone with the responsibility of a doctor to take a stand for what's right. It's who we are - - who we're supposed to be."

"Thank you, Mother," Ami said, glancing at the floor.

* * *

Minako changed into the sheer blue and lace nighty that Toshihiro had bought for her on Valentine's Day, the one that was impossibly non-functional and naturally hypnotic when she wore it. The first time she modeled it for Toshi, his eyes had popped. Of course, anything that made Minako feel pretty was worth its weight in gold, but the reaction she got was particularly gratifying. Knowing Toshi felt that way about her was more than just a balm for her ego. It was a way of feeling secure about their relationship. It was one more way to thumb her nose at Ace and his stupid prediction.

But when she slid into bed next to her husband, he shifted - - away from her.

"Toshi?" Minako inquired. The behavior puzzled her. Had she done something to offend him and not realized it? There were certain things that Toshihiro was very sensitive about and she had, on occasion, made an undiplomatic quip or something and rubbed him the wrong way. Minako draped over his back, pressing her breasts into his shoulders, and put her lips to his ear. "You OK?"

"I'll be all right," he said thinly. That was another clue. He was ticked about something.

"Doesn't sound like it," she whispered. "Did I do something?"

"I'd rather not discuss it," he replied.

"Well I'd rather not look at your back all night!" she barked, swatting his shoulders with her hand. "Come on, don't bottle it up! You know that's not good for you! What did I do?"

Toshihiro sighed. "It's nothing you did - - sort of. I mean," and he sighed again in frustration. "Mina, why did you have to do those photos?"

"What, the ones that got doctored?" gasped Minako incredulously. "They were bikini shots!"

Toshihiro didn't respond.

"I did them for the same reason any other woman does them: To get noticed and to get paid! Toshi, you were on the set of 'Angel High'! I ran around in nothing but a towel for the first six episodes! It wasn't a big deal then!"

"You weren't my wife then," Toshihiro replied. The hurt was thick in his voice.

"And that makes it different?" Minako asked him.

"I'm sorry!" Toshihiro snapped. Then he bit back his anger. "I just - - can't stand the thought of some stranger drooling over naked pictures of you. Or who knows what else."

"I think we both know what else," Minako quipped.

"Mina, this isn't funny!" Toshihiro growled.

"No, it's weird. It's my body, Toshi. If anybody should be upset, it's me." She reached over and rubbed her husband's shoulder. "Do you feel threatened by this?"

Toshi didn't respond at first. Finally, he said, "I don't want to. Everything you say is true. It's just - - it's like they're stealing you away from me - - bit by bit. And one day I'll wake up and I won't have anything left."

Minako leaned over and kissed Toshihiro's shoulder.

"Toshi, we've been over this," Minako said, pressing her cheek to his back as her arm draped around him. "All they got is a cheap copy. It's all they deserve. You've got the original."

"But for how long?" he asked, and there was a tremor in his voice that jabbed at Minako's heart.

"For as long as you want me," she told him.

He looked over his shoulder at her.

"Toshi, I've dated a lot of guys," Minako continued. "A lot of guys. A lot-lot of guys."

"Know when to quit," Toshihiro scowled.

"Anyway, I married you," Minako pointed out. "I did it because I'm safe with you. I sail some rough seas sometimes, Toshi, and you're my safe harbor. I need that. I need you. I may be a dumb blonde sometimes, but I'm smart enough to know a good thing when I see it. And we're a good thing."

Toshihiro turned his round body over to face her. "What happens when we're not a good thing anymore?"

"Won't happen for a long, long time," Minako grinned, "so why worry?"

"I hope you're right," he smiled meekly.

"Kiss me," Minako leaned in, affecting a terrible Swedish accent. "Kiss me as if it were the last time!"

"Will you stop quoting 'Casablanca'," Toshihiro chuckled.

"OK, I shot an elephant in my pajamas," Minako retorted. "What he was doing in my pajamas, I'll never know."

And Toshihiro kissed her, just to shut her up.

* * *

Usagi wandered up to the clearing where she'd left Senenthia. Sailor Valiant wasn't in the clearing where Usagi had left her. It heartened her that Valiant was well enough to walk around. She'd been concerned about the senshi ever since the woman's fainting spell. So it was good news that she was able to walk around on her own. Usagi just worried now that she had gone after Senenthia again.

"If only she could forgive Senenthia for what she's done," Usagi mumbled to herself as she made her way through the thick foliage of Mau. Her white skirt and floral blouse wasn't designed for this terrain and more than once she had to swat clinging blades of grass and leaves away from her bare legs.

The distant sound of a loud voice caught Usagi's attention. It seemed like Sailor Valiant and it further seemed like the woman was angry again. Anxiously Usagi quickened her pace through the thickets of green and blue until she could make out what was being said.

"No!" wailed Sailor Valiant. "There must be a way!"

"It's been too long," Senenthia told her. She gave the woman the unvarnished truth as sympathetically as she could. There was no point in lying. She knew Sailor Valiant wouldn't like the news, but avoiding the issue was pointless. "There's no body left to put the star seed in."

"But you restored the ones on Sailor Moon's planet!" Valiant argued. "Sailor Moon told me herself!"

"They were recent acquisitions," Senenthia explained, her multi-hued hair wafting slightly behind her in the spring breeze of the planet. "After a certain time, the molecular structure of the seed's outer shell disintegrates without contact with the star seed. It's been eighteen cycles since I was on your planet. Their bodies are all gone."

"Then make them new ones," rumbled Sailor Valiant menacingly.

"I can't!" Senenthia pleaded. "It's too much, even for me!"

"You're Sailor Galaxia!" Valiant hissed. "NOTHING is beyond you - - except, perhaps, compassion!"

"Sailor Valiant, stop! Please!" Usagi ran up, interjecting herself between the two.

"I'm not a god!" Senenthia argued. "There are things that are beyond my power! Do you see those insects up there?" and she pointed to the butterfly-like insects that darted from flower to flower above them. "Those house the star seeds of the people who lived on this planet! IT'S THE BEST I CAN DO! I'm sorry!"

Sailor Valiant looked up at the flittering insects blithely hopping from flower to flower, ignoring their confrontation.

"It's true, Sailor Valiant! She can't bring your mate and your friends back to what they were!" Usagi exclaimed. "She would if she could!"

Above them, star seeds began to appear. They all started humming anxiously.

"This?" Sailor Valiant asked, staring at Senenthia with an expression of horror and revulsion. "A motharin? You expect Kalen Tu to live out his days as - - as a MOTHARIN?"

"If I could make it right," Senenthia said, guilt and sorrow squeezing her like a vise, "I would - - even if it meant my life."

"SWORD OF JUSTICE!" roared Sailor Valiant. As the energy sword appeared in her hand, the cluster of star seeds above them thickened and grew louder.

"SAILOR VALIANT, NO!" shrieked Usagi, grabbing her sword arm to try to hold her back. "Please, violence isn't the way!"

"BEGONE!" snapped Sailor Valiant. A backhand blow to Usagi sent the woman flying. She landed by a thicket of bushes and didn't move.

Senenthia Om glared at Sailor Valiant with a fury she hadn't demonstrated since the senshi last saw her on Sarhari. Above them, the star seeds were a black cloud, buzzing and humming ominously. And Sailor Valiant didn't care a lick.

"THIS IS THE FINAL INJUSTICE!" she raged. "DIE!" and she lunged at Senenthia Om, her energy sword seeing the woman's head.

Continued in Chapter 10


	10. An Ocean Of Regret

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 10: "An Ocean Of Regret"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Makoto Ikegami leaned against the counter of her kitchen and expelled a tired breath. The apartment was clean. The laundry was done. Dinner didn't have to start for fifteen minutes yet. Ichiro was resting comfortably for the first time in three days, so the worst of his cold was probably over. She'd made it home with Akiko with time to spare and there hadn't been any loud noises, so the girl was calm for a change. Her hand went up and smoothed back some loose strands of brown hair.

"I think you've earned a few minutes of rest," Makoto told herself with a smile. Of course, not having anything else to do meant she had time to fret about Usagi, where she was and how she was doing. The vision she'd seen had only temporarily allayed her fears.

"Mommy," Akiko said, appearing at the door of the kitchen. Makoto smothered a smile.

"Well that rest didn't last long," she mumbled, turning to her husky young daughter. "What's up, Kiddo?"

"Ichiro's still sick," she proclaimed with distaste, as if it were her brother's fault.

"I told you he was," Makoto told her daughter.

"Why did he have to get sick?" Akiko asked. She seemed disappointed that she didn't have her brother to play with.

"He probably touched something with germs on it," Makoto informed her. "Just like you did last winter when you were sick."

"I didn't get the TV in my room when I was sick," Akiko grumbled.

"Yes you did."

"Well I had to change the channel by myself," Akiko persisted.

"Stop running guilt trips on me, Missy," Makoto smirked. "The way your Daddy spoiled you, I bet you were sorry to get well. So now it's Ichiro's turn to get spoiled."

Akiko digested this for a few moments.

"When's Auntie Usagi coming over?" Akiko asked out of the blue.

"Why? You looking for a candy hand-out?" Makoto asked cynically.

"Well yeah!" Akiko shot back. Makoto almost broke up there and then. "Besides, Auntie Usagi draws me pretty pictures. And she likes the same anime I like. And she plays games with me. I beat her the last time we played."

"You like your Auntie Usagi, don't you?" Makoto smiled.

"Yeah, she's fun! When's she coming over?"

"Maybe not for a while," Makoto said, her mood growing melancholy. "Your Auntie Usagi is busy with something very, very important."

"Is she being Sailor Moon?" Akiko asked, excitement gleaming in her eyes.

"Yeah," Makoto said, taking a chair. She motioned Akiko over and whisked the child up into her lap.

"So why aren't you with her?" Akiko asked curiously.

"It's something she has to do by herself, hon'," Makoto told her.

"Oh," Akiko replied, a little disappointed. "Is she going to be back tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Makoto admitted, brushing black hair out of the girl's forehead.

"I wish she'd come back soon," Akiko stated, trying to keep her disappointment to a minimum.

"So do I, Kiddo," Makoto agreed, squeezing her child to her breast. "Waiting and not knowing is no fun."

"Could something bad happen to her?" Akiko asked innocently, but with a slight undercurrent of dread.

"Well," Makoto began, "something bad can always happen to you. That's why you always have to be careful. And being a senshi, sometimes you have to risk something bad happening to do what you have to do. But your Auntie Usagi has been at this for a long time. And she knows what she's doing - - even if your other aunts and I aren't there to hold her hand. She'll deal with this, and then come home, and then I'll fix her a big old meal three times as big as anything I've ever made before."

"And she'll eat it all up!" giggled Akiko. Makoto hugged her again. The girl's fears were mollified.

Now if only hers would.

* * *

Senenthia Om, the one-time Sailor Galaxia, watched it all unfold before her with unbelieving eyes. She watched Sailor Valiant take the news that the love of her life's only hope of restoration was to live his life out as an insect, watched her take the news with all the lack of joy she expected. She watched the senshi draw her energy sword in an expected explosion of fury. She saw Usagi Chiba intercede, trying to calm the tense situation only to have Sailor Valiant backhand her to the ground. It was a blow she still hadn't moved from. And she saw Sailor Valiant charge, swinging her energy sword to decapitate Senenthia.

She'd seen enough.

"Galaxia Super String!" Senenthia Om shouted, gesturing at the charging Sailor Valiant as if she were tossing something at her.

Golden string shot out from Senenthia's hands. It caught Sailor Valiant across the chest and began magically winding around the senshi, up and down her body until her limbs were fused and bound. Her energy sword clattered to the ground as she struggled in the criss-cross cocoon of golden filament. The string was thin, but had great tensile strength and cut deep into her skin. Valiant tried to burst it, but the restraint resisted. All she managed to do was topple awkwardly onto the ground. Still struggling, the senshi quickly realized that she was caught in restraint that seemed inescapable, and that she was at a huge disadvantage to the single most powerful senshi in the universe. She looked up warily. Valiant expected to suffer a counterattack from the fiery haired ex-senshi, and she was wrong. Instead Senenthia ran over to the fallen Usagi.

"Usagi, are you hurt?" Senenthia gasped, emotion heretofore unguessed in the woman bubbling to the surface. She knelt down, her brown robe bunching around her, and cradled Usagi's head in her lap.

As Sailor Valiant struggled to free herself, she watched her foe hold a hand over the Earth senshi's head. Her hand began to glow gold. Instantly Valiant recognized what Senenthia was doing from her own time as Queen Triumphant. She was using her crystal energy to heal Usagi. As she continued to stare, Sailor Valiant puzzled over the ex-senshi's behavior. It was clear she wasn't the vicious destroyer that Valiant remembered. She was different.

But Sailor Valiant's world was still dead. And Kalen Tu was still a disembodied star seed. She kept trying to free herself.

"Ohh," Usagi sighed, stirring at last. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Usagi?" Senenthia asked breathlessly. "How do you feel?"

"Very good," Usagi replied. "You heal quite well, Senenthia. It's something you were born to do." Senenthia gave her a cynical grin.

"I won't let you make Kalen Tu into one of those insects!" shouted Sailor Valiant as she strained against the steely string. "I will stop you!"

"So you'd rather he be a disembodied star seed forever?" argued Senenthia. "There's no other choice for him! And if you'd stop wallowing in your anger and loss, maybe you could see that!"

"I have to fight for him!" Valiant bellowed back. "What else is left for me?"

"You could use your power to help," Usagi offered. "Find another world that needs you and help them. Or help Senenthia with her work. I'm sure she could use . . ."

"Help her?" spat Sailor Valiant. "After what she did?"

"Well, this vicious cycle of revenge and violence won't accomplish anything!" Usagi cried.

"It's all I have left to me," scowled Valiant.

"Oh, stop," sneered Senenthia. "I felt sympathy for you, at first. But not now. What do you know about true misery? Your bright, shiny world is gone? At least you knew a world that was bright and shiny, and not a hell hole of deprivation and despair. Your friends are gone? At least you had friends. Your lover is now a disembodied star seed? My condolences." The woman with the fiery mane clenched her jaw, choking back more unexpected emotion. "At least you had someone who loved you."

Usagi stared up at Senenthia, frightened by the rancor spilling out from her as she recalled her past.

"I grew up on a world where children fought for scraps of food and even the winners often went to sleep hungry. A world where a coin made you a king, a world where love and charity got you exploited or killed," Senenthia continued. "My existence was a series of battles for survival, and the survivors often envied the dead because they didn't suffer anymore. My home world was the first planet I destroyed and it's the only one I'm not going to restore!" The woman seemed almost to shake with fury. "What's worse, Sailor Valiant: To have known joy and lost it, or to have never known joy at all? Well? Answer me, Sailor Valiant! You know so much more than any of us that you have the right to judge me!"

"Senenthia," Usagi said simply, putting her hand on the woman's forearm. Senenthia looked down at the still prone Usagi and saw once again compassion and charity pooled in her blue eyes. "Forgive her, please. It's the heartache talking."

Swallowing to clear her emotion from her throat, Senenthia smiled timidly.

"Of course, Usagi," Senenthia nodded. "I'm sorry." She rose to her feet. A single gesture caused the golden string to disappear from Sailor Valiant's body. "Maybe everybody would calm down if I excused myself for a while."

Senenthia walked away. As she left, the star seeds above them began to dissipate, fading into the limbo they resided in until only one lingered. Usagi got up and went over to Sailor Valiant. The senshi sat in the grass, solemn and thoughtful.

"What hold do you have over her, Sailor Moon?" she asked Usagi. "I felt her power just now. I was helpless before her. Just as I was helpless two - - no, eighteen cycles ago. She could have destroyed me with a thought. And with just a few words, you stopped her. How? How do you bend the single most powerful being in the universe to your will?"

Usagi shrugged. "I'm her friend?"

Sailor Valiant looked at her as if she were a child for a moment. Then she gave up the idea and returned to her melancholy. The single star seed hovered over her.

"It seems ludicrous," Valiant mumbled. "But I have witnessed it with my own eyes. I thought I believed in the power of peace and charity - - before. But you actually make it work." Suddenly she turned to Usagi. "Perhaps you could intercede on my behalf? I haven't done anything to deserve your consideration, but it's not for me! Kalen Tu deserves to live again, as a humanoid and not an insect! All my people do, but him most of all! If you . . .?"

"I'm sorry, Sailor Valiant," Usagi offered. "Some things are beyond us all. Senenthia says she doesn't have the power to construct a human form for the star seeds. It's all she can do to make the insect forms."

Bringing her knees up to her chest, Sailor Valiant pressed her face into them. Usagi felt the woman weeping and placed her arms around Valiant. The star seed moved in closer.

"For all I am, and all I have done," Sailor Valiant keened, "I'm helpless. Helpless when my love and my people need me most!"

The star seed was now level with Usagi's face, hovering slightly above Sailor Valiant.

"Is that him?" Usagi asked. Sailor Valiant looked up and acknowledged the star seed for the first time.

"Yes," she whispered, gently caressing the star seed. "Oh, Sailor Moon, do you know the agony I feel over seeing him this way?"

"Yes, I do," Usagi told her. "Mamo-Chan was like that when Sailor Galaxia came to Earth. Fortunately he came back to me, but the memory of seeing him that way is something that will haunt me forever." She hugged Sailor Valiant again.

"To think of him like this withers my soul - - but the thought of him as a mere insect, his great mind gone is so much worse! What will I do?" Sailor Valiant asked weakly. "Sailor Moon, what will I do?"

"I don't know," Usagi offered. "I'm not very good at solving problems. I'm not that smart." She stroked Sailor Valiant's hair. "The only thing I can suggest is - - perhaps you could think of something if you stop using so much of your energy to hate."

Sailor Valiant didn't answer. Usagi continued to hold her. The star seed of Kalen Tu hovered near her and tried to offer what solace it could.

* * *

The next morning, Ami was at the hospital and beginning her shift. She wasn't very eager to be there, though. Usagi's absence still concerned her. There had been no word from her since the sudden vision they had all received from her. Ami had called Mamoru the previous night to check on him and found the man pensive and frustrated that he couldn't get to his wife. And on top of that, the workplace environment was no better. A good portion of the staff resented her either because she'd reported Dr. Yamaguchi, or that she'd reported a staffer at all. Nobody seemed to like a whistle-blower, particularly one that seemed to be better at her job than they were.

So preoccupied with these things was she that Ami nearly missed the soft gasps coming from a patient's room. Turning to the sound, Ami peeked in. It sounded like a possible inhibited airway in a respirator patient.

"Goodness!" Ami gasped.

A thirty-six year old woman was in the bed, her face and neck severely swollen from an allergic reaction. She was semi-conscious and gasping for air. Running up, Ami pressed the emergency call button on the patient's remote while looking at the IV bag feeding into her. The IV was a simple glucose solution, certainly nothing that would cause this reaction. Then she saw the vial on the desk next to the bed.

"Penicillin," Ami murmured as a nurse came in. She turned to the nurse quickly. "Get a cart in here! She's in anaphylactic shock!"

With no time to lose, Ami grabbed a plastic tube from a bed tray. It was the outer housing for a syringe. Forcing the tube down the woman's throat for intubation eased the respiratory problems enough to keep her alive. By that time two nurses and Dr. Yamaguchi had arrived. Ami snatched up a syringe and a vial of epinephrine while one nurse set up an oxygen mask and Dr. Yamaguchi bent over the patient.

"I need an IV of steroid solution here!" he commanded the other nurse. Yamaguchi checked the woman's pulse as Ami administered the injection. Not liking the pulse, Yamaguchi began massaging the woman's arm where Ami injected her. A nurse strapped an oxygen mask over the patient's face. The steroid IV was put in place.

And tense minutes later, their efforts paid off. Her breathing eased and the swelling receded.

"When she's stable," Ami said to one of the nurses, "let her attending physician know that I had to intubate with a hard plastic syringe housing. It will need to be removed and her throat tissue treated. And let the attending know about this, too."

"He already knows, Dr. Mizuno," Dr. Yamaguchi told her, still bent over the patient checking her.

"You?" Ami asked to confirm the statement. "Do you realize what probably caused this?"

"Probably an anaphylactic reaction to the penicillin I gave her," Yamaguchi replied stonily.

"What were you treating her for?"

"She was admitted for a back injury. During tests, we also discovered a," and Yamaguchi hesitated uncomfortably, "gynecological infection." Ami began to respond, but Yamaguchi stopped her. "And before you ask, I had no indication of any allergic history to penicillin." He never looked at Ami, but did add, "By the way - - good catch. Your quick actions allowed us to save her."

"Yours did as well," Ami replied.

Diplomatically she left. But rather than take up her own caseload, Ami went to the nurse's station and got the chart for the woman she'd just left. As she read it, peripherally she noticed Dr. Yamaguchi headed for the locker room to change. But as Yamaguchi entered the elevator, Ami jumped in with him.

"Doctor," Ami began, eying him intently. "I looked at that patient's chart. It clearly states a known allergy to penicillin."

Yamaguchi's eyes popped. Ami instantly deduced that he wasn't aware of it.

"I," Yamaguchi began, his eyes shifting away, "must have missed it."

"Or you forgot to check?" Ami persisted.

"Dr. Mizuno, you can spare me the lecture. I already got it from your mother," bristled Yamaguchi. "I can see now where you get your tenacity from - - and your demanding nature. You and Kaname are very much alike."

"Doctor, the safety of the patients must be the primary consideration here!" Ami argued.

"Don't lecture me about the Hippocratic Oath, Doctor!" snapped Yamaguchi. "You're too young to know what it's like to feel people pushing you toward the door because of your age. When you're thirty, it's a mistake. We all make them. When you're sixty, you're old. You're not competent anymore. You've lost your touch - - getting senile. All right, I forget things - - maybe more often than I used to. But I'm still a good doctor! I can still help people! I'm not ready for the retirement home yet!"

The elevator opened and Dr. Yamaguchi stormed out. Ami stayed behind, watching him roar into the men's locker room like a tsunami coming in off the Pacific. She sympathized with him. She actually did. Ami had seen him in action side by side with her pulling that patient back from the brink. He WAS still a good doctor.

Just not for a hospital setting - - not anymore. With a heavy heart, Ami pushed the button to return to her floor. When she got a chance today, she was going to have to file another report. Maybe this one would force something to happen.

* * *

Sailor Valiant sat in the grasses near the thicket. The star seed of Kalen Tu hovered near her, but she was only absently aware of it. Instead, the words of Sailor Moon dominated her mind.

"'Perhaps you could think of something'," she had said to Sailor Valiant, "'if you stop using so much of your energy to hate'."

It was hard. She'd never hated any being in all of her existence more than she hated Sailor Galaxia. And what had acting on that hatred gotten her? From what Sailor Moon had told her, Sailor Moon had almost as much reason to hate Galaxia, and she forgave the woman - - even managed to turn Galaxia from her rampage of destruction. There was wisdom in this seemingly simple woman. Perhaps she did need to spend more time on restoring what she had lost instead of avenging it. There was still hope. Kalen Tu and the others still existed, if only in star seed form.

"And what was that you always told me, dear Kalen?" she whispered, gently stroking the star seed hovering next to her. "'Where there is life, there is hope'." She sighed, teetering on the brink of tears again. "Oh, how I long for you to be a part of me again. I miss you so."

And just like that, Sailor Valiant had an idea. Now the question was: Did she have the power - - and the courage - - to attempt it?"

Continued in Chapter 11


	11. Sailor Valiant's Plan

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 11: "Sailor Valiant's Plan"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

Ami Mizuno was in the room of one of her assigned patients. The patient was Akibari Nokozuma, a forty-six year old laborer who had been admitted with pneumonia. As Ami listened to his lungs with her stethoscope, she noticed again the resemblance in build to Makoto's husband, Sanjuro. Nokozuma had been working construction in the rain to stay on schedule. He'd developed a cold and continued to work in the rain and cold for several more days until the cold developed into pneumonia. Ami continued to listen to his lungs while the huge, muscular man lay in bed, weak as a kitten, and looked at her expectantly.

"Your lungs are sounding better, Nokozuma-San," Ami told him, to his infinite relief. "I think we caught it in time."

"That's great," the burly man smiled. "How soon can I get back to work?"

"Work?" Ami exclaimed with surprise. "Not for another month, at least."

"A month?" gasped the man. That set him to coughing again.

"Nokozuma-San, you have to be careful," she told him as his coughing quieted. "You can't resume strenuous work until we're certain that your lung tissue is completely healed, particularly if you're going to be working in the elements again. You'd run a significant risk of contracting pneumonia again and you'd be even worse off than you are now."

"But I can't take a month off!" he exclaimed, trying not to speak too emphatically so as not to trigger his lungs again. "If I'm laid up a month, they'll replace me on this construction. How will I provide for my family?"

"I sympathized, Nokozuma-San," Ami said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "But if you come back too soon, you do so at great risk. Pneumonia can be fatal if not handled correctly - -and how will you provide for your family if you're dead?"

The man let his head flop back on his pillow and stared up at the ceiling.

"If you continue to progress, I think you'll be able to leave the hospital in two or three days," Ami offered as some consolation. "At least you'll be able to be with your family."

"Yeah," sighed Nokozuma. Ami wrote some instructions for the duty nurse and then left. Giving people bad news was never pleasant. She wished she could do more, but her duty was to heal his body, not his financial situation. If she had to choose one or the other, healing the body had to take precedence.

Out in the hall, Ami noticed the duty nurse at the nurse's station point her out to two people. Moving to meet them half way, Ami looked them over. They were a couple in their forties, the man tall and angular with a sagging face and thick black frame glasses. He wore a suit that seemed like a uniform more than a fashion choice. The woman was dressed conservatively and had a reserved attractiveness to her. Gray began to fleck her black hair, but she chose not to color it.

"You are Dr. Mizuno?" the man asked. When Ami said yes, the pair bowed to her. "Is there a place we may speak to you in private?"

"Concerning what, if I may ask?" Ami inquired.

"My brother died here," the man said, the weight of the words seeming to crush him. "I wish to know how and why and no one will answer my questions. He was my brother. I have a right to know how he died."

"I sympathize," Ami answered. "What was the pat . . . I mean, what was your brother's name?"

"Ryounosuke Atasi," the man told her hopefully. Ami thought a bit. She had no patients named Atasi that she could recall, and she hadn't had one of her patients die since the Nakamura death five months ago - - and he had been eighty-four, too old to be this man's brother.

Then it hit her.

"Atasi-San," Ami began. "Your brother wasn't my patient. Dr. Yamaguchi was the attending physician on that case."

"I know," Atasi said, ill-feelings curling his mouth slightly downward. "Dr. Yamaguchi has been - - of little help. And I have found out that you have a peripheral interest in my brother's case. So I come to you, Dr. Mizuno. Why did my brother die?"

Two concerns pulled at Ami's decision: Helping this man find the answers he sought, answers he deserved, versus how the truth might affect the legal position of the hospital and of Dr. Yamaguchi. Someone was going to get hurt no matter what she chose, possibly someone who didn't deserve to get hurt. But in the end, Ami saw only one path that would allow her to keep her soul.

"There's a counseling room right over there," Ami pointed to a room next to the corridor junction. "We can speak in private there."

* * *

Usagi strolled over to where Senenthia Om was laying in the grass on the side of a small hill. Senenthia was just looking up into the alien sky, doing nothing. Brushing her blonde hair trails over her shoulders, Usagi approached her cautiously.

"Senenthia?" Usagi inquired. "You're not bothered by what happened, are you? Between you and Sailor Valiant?"

"It's nothing I haven't experienced before," Senenthia said, still gazing up at the sky.

"Sailor Valiant is just upset," Usagi began.

"I know. And I'm the root cause," Senenthia turned to her. "And if I could change the past, I would. I've encountered so much hatred and suffering these last years, and all of it directly traceable to me. But I learned over time that I can only do so much to atone for my actions, and if that's not enough for people, then that's how it has to be. I can only make myself worthy of forgiveness. Whether someone chooses to forgive me is their decision. After all, I was the one who couldn't forgive the universe for birthing me on that miserable hell hole that was my home planet. And look what it got me. We all make our own beds, Usagi." She grinned at the woman. "I bet yours is really comfortable."

"Senenthia," Usagi looked at her sadly. "You sound so lonely."

The woman shrugged. "I've always preferred being alone. It's not so bad now. The star seeds I'm still shepherding keep me company. I don't know what I'm going to do when they're all reborn - - but at the rate I'm going, that's not going to happen for quite a while."

Without any urging from Usagi, Senenthia got to her feet. She turned back to Usagi, who rose with her.

"My work on this planet is done. On to the next one," she said. "I'll drop you off on Earth first. I'm sure a lot of people are missing you."

"What about Sailor Valiant?" Usagi asked.

"Sailor Valiant can choose her own course," Senenthia replied. "I offered to help her as best I could and she spurned it. She can stay here. She can go back to her world, or to another world, or she can come after me again and try to avenge her planet. It's up to her. I can't spend any more time wondering about her. There are more pressing things on my list."

"Sailor Galaxia!" they heard a woman call. Turning, they both saw it was Sailor Valiant approaching at a determined pace.

"Oh dear," grimaced Usagi. Without any prompting, she transformed into Sailor Moon. When Sailor Valiant got close enough, Sailor Moon moved to intercept her. "Sailor Valiant, please don't start another fight! There's nothing to be gained by violence!"

Sailor Valiant allowed Sailor Moon to stop her advance, but she continued to stare intently at Senenthia. The former Sailor Galaxia returned her stare with a silent challenge to do anything she liked to her, but to not raise a hand against Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon looked anxiously from one to the other and back.

"I have not come for battle," Sailor Valiant scowled as she spoke. She glanced at Sailor Moon. "Your words have reached me, Sailor Moon. I see their wisdom. Her death will not bring back my planet, my friends or the man I love."

"I'm glad," smiled Sailor Moon.

"I come with a request of you," Valiant began, turning back to Senenthia. "I do not require your assistance. I will do the job myself, if I must. But you have offered to - - to repair my wounded home planet and restore it to what it was, as penance for what you did. Do you still stand by that offer?"

"Yes," Senenthia replied, though unclear as to what the senshi was driving at. "I'll come to your world and undo any of the physical damage I did, on my own or in conjunction with you. It's the very least I can do." A hopeful light sprang up in Sailor Valiant's eyes and it concerned both Senenthia and Sailor Moon. "You still understand, though, that I can't restore the star seeds of your friends and your people to humanoid life, don't you?"

"I understand," Sailor Valiant told them, almost with a sense of pride rather than anger or resignation. Valiant noticed their confusion. "Your efforts on behalf of the star seeds of my planet will not be necessary. I will bring them back to life - - human life, not as an insignificant insect."

"I-I don't understand," Sailor Moon interjected. "Can you do that?"

"I don't see how," Senenthia added. She was suspicious of Valiant's demeanor and just a little concerned. "Not without expending so much energy that it would prove fatal to you."

"Is that what you mean?" gasped Sailor Moon. "Sailor Valiant, you can't!"

"No, not that way," Valiant replied serenely. "I shall do it in the most natural way known to a woman. You forgot, Sailor Galaxia, that while you are a senshi, you are also a woman - - as am I."

The truth began to dawn on Senenthia, while Sailor Moon remained mystified.

"I have taken Kalen Tu's star seed into myself," Valiant explained, placing her hand over her abdomen. "I fused it with one of my ovum. He grows within me even now. In time, he will be born - - reborn. And he will be born human."

"You're going to recreate your mate," Senenthia struggled to vocalize, "as your child?"

"I love him," Sailor Valiant began to mist up. "Could I love him any less as my son? I love Sanai, Tuula and Linae, like the sisters I never had. Could I love them any less as my daughters? I owe them this. They all sacrificed so much for me. I stand here now, instead of up there as part of your cluster of star seeds, because of their sacrifice. I owe them the chance to be reborn as humans."

"You'd give birth to them?" Senenthia asked Sailor Valiant. "Raise them?"

"I have nothing else left to me," Valiant answered. "I have no home, and now that Sailor Moon has shown me the folly of my desire for vengeance, no purpose. If I am to live on for as long as we live, better it be spent bringing my people back to life - - nine months at a time."

A gentle breeze wafting over the meadow was the only sound that could be heard.

"And I thought I'd given MYSELF an impossible task," Senenthia marveled. "Are you certain, Sailor Valiant? This isn't just a whim of desperation, is it? You need to be sure, because there's no turning back. You can't change your mind six months in."

"I am certain," Sailor Valiant proclaimed.

"Are you? This is the goal you'll be setting for yourself for the rest of your life," Senenthia repeated. "Believe me, it won't always be easy. There will be times when you may wish you'd never been born.

"You need not concern yourself over the strength of my will," Sailor Valiant bristled. "I was taught to honor my commitments and do what is right."

Senenthia looked into Sailor Valiant's eyes as if she were trying to see into the woman's very soul. Sailor Moon watched anxiously, silently praying that this was the peaceful solution to everyone's problems. Tense moments passed.

"I believe you," Senenthia said at last. "Well, if you're going to bring a planet back to life one person at a time - - unless you're planning on having a lot of twins - - I think giving them a nice, lush green planet to live on would be an excellent present for the, um, expectant mother." She turned and smirked at Sailor Moon. "Don't you think?"

Sailor Moon nodded heartily.

* * *

It was late in the evening for the Ikegami family. Her family had enjoyed another of Makoto's sumptuous meals. Conversation at the table had once again been dominated by Akiko relating every minor detail of her day at pre-school. Ichiro had felt well enough to join them and sat mesmerized by everything Akiko said. Makoto was now washing the dishes. Sanjuro had even volunteered to help dry, and endured his wife correcting him when he didn't dry the dishes "just so".

"Got a call from Minako today," Makoto told her husband. "The licensing deal for the images of the senshi was finalized."

"How much are we talking about?" Sanjuro asked.

"More money than we could make in five years, San-San," she exclaimed, "even IF I went back to cooking in the restaurant. San-San, it's amazing! Minako threw around figures that made my eyes pop, and she said they were just rough estimates!" A huge grin sprouted on Makoto's face. "I think we can do it now. You know, that bakery I've always wanted to start? I think we can do it now!"

"They guaranteed these figures?" Sanjuro asked.

"Well," Makoto grimaced, "Minako seemed pretty sure."

"Consider that last statement," Sanjuro smirked at her. Makoto deflated some.

"Yeah, it is Blondie talking."

"Maybe we should wait until the money actually starts coming in," Sanjuro recommended. "Then, if it looks like what they promised - - maybe we can take a Sunday and look at storefronts."

Makoto looked up at him with the light of hope dancing in her eyes. Oh, how he loved seeing her like that. Just then the door buzzer sounded.

"I'll get it!" Akiko shouted from the other room.

"No, I'LL get it," Sanjuro replied, grabbing a towel for his hands.

"BUT I WANT TO GET IT!" retorted Akiko.

"You're going to get it," warned Sanjuro.

Makoto stifled a laugh. She went back to washing dishes.

"Babe! There's a doctor in the house!"

"Ami?" gasped Makoto. She snatched up a towel and dried her hands. As she exited the kitchen and entered the living room, she found Ami there.

"I'm sorry to impose, Makoto," Ami began. She seemed to be functioning in spite of very low spirits. "I wanted to check on Ichiro, and - - well - - perhaps if you're not too busy, we . . .?"

"Sure, Ames," Makoto said, gathering her friend in and herding her to the kitchen. "I'll make you some tea."

The cup sat ignored as Ami related what had happened at the hospital the previous day. Makoto listened intently as Ami recounted how she'd told the Atasi family how their brother had died. She had told them everything, even her suspicions about Dr. Yamaguchi. Ami had stressed that her suspicions were unproven, that even if they were true the death was accidental, and that Atasi had poor chances of survival regardless.

Then she explained that the Atasi family must have contacted the hospital administration. The very next day, this day, Dr. Yamaguchi had been pulled from his rounds and "promoted" to an administrative position - - one that didn't involve hands on medical practice. The announcement stated that it was a reward for years of meritorious service to the hospital. No sooner had the announcement been made than Ami was called into the administrator's office.

"He questioned me about any contact I'd had with the Atasi family," Ami related mechanically. "I didn't see any point in lying. I'd done nothing wrong."

"And?" Makoto asked.

"It wasn't welcome news," Ami said. "The director admonished me for over-stepping my bounds. He said that my statements had put the hospital in a potentially litigious situation, and at the very least brought shame and dishonor to it and to Dr. Yamaguchi. He ordered me not to speak to any family members of any patient who wasn't my own."

"But he didn't fire you?" Makoto asked anxiously.

"No," Ami said with a frown.

"That's a relief," sighed Makoto.

"I resigned on my own," Ami added.

* * *

The three senshi gathered on a field near the wooded thicket on Mau. Sailor Valiant turned to Sailor Moon.

"Again, I wish to apologize for the brutish manner in which we first met, Sailor Moon," Sailor Valiant said, flipping her thick mane of black curls back from her shoulders. "You have reminded me that anger and force is not the way to gain one's ends. And apologize to your senshi and your mate for me. They fought bravely on your behalf."

"It's all right, Sailor Valiant," smiled Sailor Moon.

"Please," Sailor Valiant said shyly. "My true name is R'Temis."

"Really? I know a cat with that name!" squealed Sailor Moon.

Sailor Valiant and Senenthia both looked at her strangely.

"This is a noble thing you're doing," Sailor Moon continued, oblivious to the looks. "Can you feel him?"

"I can," Sailor Valiant nodded happily. "I can feel the life growing within me. And more - - I think I can sense the aura of Kalen Tu. Perhaps I'm imagining it."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" squealed Sailor Moon. She flung her arms around Sailor Valiant and hugged her. "Congratulations! Now you be careful and take very good care of yourself! That life within you is very fragile! You can't do anything to endanger it!"

"I will, Sailor Moon," Valiant replied.

"Please, make it Usagi," Sailor Moon told her. "We're all friends here."

"If you're ready, we'll be going now," Senenthia said to Sailor Valiant.

"Back to R'Temis's planet?" Sailor Moon asked.

"Back to Sailor Valiant's home planet," Senenthia replied. "I still have a world to rebuild so Sailor Valiant's children will have a home worthy of them. It wasn't my next stop, but I can juggle my schedule."

"You're OK with that?" Sailor Moon asked Sailor Valiant.

"She will take some getting used to," Sailor Valiant said, eying Senenthia. "But I no longer desire her death - - and I can better concentrate on rebirthing a world if I do not have to rebuild it as well."

Senenthia took Sailor Valiant's hand. Their bodies were surrounded by a transport bubble of gold and blue, then shot off into the sky. Sailor Moon waved at them as they sped off.

"That's nice," Sailor Moon said to herself amid the flora of Mau. "I'm glad they could settle things peacefully." Then a thought dawned on her. "Wait a minute. How am I going to get home?"

Concluded in Chapter 12


	12. Redeemed

THE PATH TO REDEMPTION

Chapter 12: "Redeemed"

A Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"Why would you quit?" Makoto gasped, as if Ami had just slapped her across the face.

Ami winced, stung by the tone in Makoto's voice, and Makoto realized that she was taking the news a lot more personally than either she or Ami expected. And though Ami was a lot more assertive and sure of herself as an adult, there was still that shy girl from high school inside that shrank from criticism and avoided conflict.

"Sorry," Makoto offered as Ami avoided her glance. "It's your life, I guess. You must know what you're doing. It just seems like a waste, you know, after all the work you put in."

"Well, I didn't say I was going to stop being a doctor," Ami assured her, still avoiding her glance. "I'm just not going to be a doctor at that hospital. The working atmosphere has become too poisonous for my comfort." Finally she turned and looked at Makoto. "And I can't in good conscience work for a company whose only concern seems to be appearance and convenience, ahead of the truth and the welfare of the patients. The only reason they took Dr. Yamaguchi off of rounds was because the Atasi family could have chosen to sue them if they didn't. And then they make it seem like a reward to save face and protect their image with the public. If the Atasi family hadn't spoken up, the situation would have gone on and they would have done nothing about it. Who knows how many other patients may have needlessly suffered or even died before Dr. Yamaguchi realized his skills have deteriorated and he shouldn't practice any longer? So he gets rewarded with a status position, they save their reputation - - while I'm reprimanded for telling the Atasi family the truth and an outcast for reporting Dr. Yamaguchi in the first place."

Makoto noticed Ami's jaw quiver ever so slightly.

"And I'm frankly tired of being the outcast," Ami said, a small quaver in her voice at the end. "All through my life, my intellect has distanced me from people. Now my honesty has done the same. I won't have it. I won't."

Makoto got up and enveloped Ami in her arms. Reluctantly the doctor surrendered to it.

"Well, good riddance to them then," Makoto told her softly. "And if I'm ever dumb enough to get pregnant again, I'm having my baby at whatever hospital you land at."

"Thank you," Ami whispered, embarrassed now by her display of emotion. The fact that Makoto gave her that knowing grin when she released her hug was the only thing that eased the mortification. Ami picked up her tea. "But I'm not certain I'm going to go to another hospital after this."

The doctor got a quizzical look from her friend.

"Mamoru has offered to take me into his private practice several times," Ami informed her. "Maybe it's time to make the move. I can still provide for people who need medical assistance. I just won't have to deal with corporate rules or workplace politics."

"That sounds like a plan," Makoto told her. "I bet you and Mamoru would work real well together. Just don't try to seduce him behind Usagi's back."

"Makoto, as if I would," clucked Ami, her cheeks reddening. That brought a wide grin to Makoto's face. Her smile dimmed, though, as she thought of Usagi.

"I wonder when she's going to get back," Makoto mused. "I hope she's OK."

"Yes, it's been a while since her last communication," Ami agreed. "I can't help but be concerned.

At that point, Akiko entered the kitchen.

"Mommy!" she declared loudly. "Can we get a pony? Daddy said it was OK!"

"Oh, he did, huh?" Makoto replied with an arched eyebrow.

"Yes, he really did!" Akiko reiterated with much animation.

"OK, Missy, I'm going to go into the next room and check with your father," Makoto informed her, calmly but with an undercurrent of authority. "And if he tells me something different, I'm going to come back and blister your backside. Now, you want to try again?"

"Boy, you're tough," scowled Akiko. She walked away in defeat while Ami and Makoto exchanged bemused glances.

* * *

Her head in the refrigerator, Minako searched for something to appease the vague craving she had - - something that wasn't chocolate. The show was in the middle of taping and she had to keep her weight consistent. And suddenly the thought of food made her think of Usagi.

"I hope she's OK," Minako mumbled to herself, absently shutting the refrigerator door. "Knowing and not being able to help is the worst, but not knowing is a close second."

"Did you say something?" Artemis asked. He was on the window sill of the kitchen, catching the morning sun while it was coming through that window.

"Just wondering about Usagi," Minako told him. Artemis gave her a sympathetic look.

"Minako!" Toshihiro called out, his hand over the phone. "It's your agent!"

Minako sauntered into the living room wearing nothing more than jogging shorts and a rumbled t-shirt with a logo for "Spy Girls Three" on it. "Spy Girls Three" had been one of the more forgettable films she'd done in her career, a project she hustled while on hiatus from the game show she'd modeled on a few years back. The shirt itself looked like it hadn't been laundered in a while, something not out of the ordinary for the slovenly Minako Aino-Manabe. Toshihiro handed her the phone, then glanced admiringly at her bottom while she spoke.

"What's the word?" Minako asked. "They did? And the reaction?" She listened with new-found attention to the reply. "So we're OK now? They're not going to fire me or anything?" Again she paused for the response. "Well, what can I say? I am magnificent."

An echo of Artemis's derisive laugh came from the other room.

"And there's no problem with the movie producers? Really? Maybe I really should pose nude." She smirked at her agent's response. "Just kidding. So the only hold up is money? Well wring as much out of them as you can, but don't lose me this part. Toshi thinks it's a good one and I trust his judgment. Bye, guy."

"Thanks for trusting my judgment," Toshihiro smiled cynically.

"Hey, you picked me. You must know what you're doing," she chuckled and pecked him on the lips.

"So what IS the word?" he persisted.

"The producers of the show were happy with the way I handled the interview," Minako explained. "They got advance copies and thought it went well. Any controversy over those shopped photos will die down and everything is peachy now." She scowled slightly. "Well, Kentaro Oburi is probably still doing a burn over them. Then again, he's the type who'd get upset if I was in a kimono and somebody saw my ankles. At least I've still got a job."

"I told you they wouldn't fire you," Toshihiro reminded her.

"Yes you did, and I bow to your infinite wisdom once again," Minako said. She folded her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips.

"Appointment with the marketing firm at eleven," came Artemis's voice from the other room.

"OK, OK!" shouted Minako. "Duty calls. I've got to dole out more of magnificent me to my clamoring public." She pressed her lips to his and then smiled when she pulled back. "Promise I'll save the best part for you, Toshi."

"Can't wait," he replied and kissed her again.

* * *

At the shrine on Sendai Hill, Akira-Sensei stepped out onto the walk from the main entrance. Looking to his left, he found Hino-Sensei sitting on a bench near the oldest tree on the property. She was looking up into the sky pensively, as if waiting for something - - or someone. Perched on her shoulder was one of the two crows she kept as pets - - or perhaps more accurately, confidants. The bird looked up into the sky just like she did. Perched next to her on the bench was the other crow. That bird stared up into the sky as well. It was an unusual sight even for someone like him, who had been at the shrine for a while now and was used to such unusual behavior. To a stranger, it must have been a strange tableau indeed.

Akira walked over calmly. When he got within a certain distance, the crow on Rei's shoulder flew into the tree branches. That, Akira concluded, must be the one Rei referred to as Deimos, since it mistrusted humans. The other crow remained in place - - as Akira was a human that Rei had accepted, it accepted him as well. Alerted by Deimos' motion, Rei turned to him, then turned away. He perceived she was embarrassed at being caught doing what she was doing.

"It's a fine day," Akira commented. "One so fine that it's quite easy to lose yourself in the beauty of the sky."

"I hadn't noticed," Rei murmured.

"Hino-Sensei," Akira began, "the sage says we are not responsible for things we have no control over. Therefore, any guilt over the occurrence of said thing is a drain upon the spirit and a hindrance to the advancement of same."

"And an obligation that remains unfulfilled should take precedence over more mundane thoughts," Rei countered.

"Also true," Akira nodded. "But if the obligation can't be fulfilled, isn't industry more in keeping with the more noble pursuits of the spirit than simply waiting? Nothing is accomplished by simply waiting for her return."

"Her?" Rei frowned, turning to him.

"You're clearly waiting for someone. Since you look to the sky, I assume it's not your friend Usagi you wait for. Therefore I assumed it was Sailor Moon. I have learned, through my own clumsy intrusiveness, that you and Sailor Moon are connected."

"About that," Rei began.

"You don't need to divulge anything to me," Akira assured her. "I've known since shortly after I met you that you possess a spirit far beyond that of a normal priest, and that certain gifts come with that spirit. Throughout our history, those with greater spiritual awareness have been aides and advisors to emperors, shoguns and great warriors. It isn't surprising that a great champion like Sailor Moon would seek you out and make use of your gifts for the greater good. And it isn't unusual for such relationships to develop into friendships. Having met Sailor Moon, I know she's quite easy to admire and even easier to like."

"You're very perceptive yourself," Rei said, looking out over the gardens of the shrine. "In some ways, you're like my grandfather."

"I'm honored," Akira nodded. "I'm aware of your grandfather's reputation."

"And you've been very patient and understanding with me," Rei continued. "You're a very patient and understanding person."

"I think my two children could give you an argument over that," Akira told her. Rei lowered her head to hide her smile. "I'm not trying to direct your behavior. I just think sitting here waiting and wondering - - and worrying - - isn't helping her. And it's certainly not helping you."

"I guess you're right," Rei scowled, pushing herself up off the bench. Phobos took that as a sign and flew up into the trees to join Deimos. "I'm not doing anyone any good by staring up into the sky and wondering. I suppose I should start pulling my weight around here."

Despite her statement, Rei glanced up into the sky once again.

"I just can't help wondering," she confessed, "how she's doing."

* * *

Usagi sat on a large rock she found in the fields of flowing - - well, it wasn't quite grass and it wasn't quite wheat, but more something in between. Her legs were pulled up to her chin and her arms curled around them. Her mood was blue, not so much for her predicament, but for the fact that she was alone. Usagi hated to be alone.

A presence suddenly seemed to tickle at the back of her brain. Uncurling from the rock, Usagi looked behind her. Standing behind her was Senenthia Om, her hands clasped behind her and an almost childlike naughty grin on her face. She leaned in toward Usagi inquiringly.

"Senenthia!" exclaimed Usagi.

"Did you think I'd forgotten you, Usagi?" Senenthia asked, struggling not to giggle.

"No! Not at all!" Usagi gasped.

"Really?" Senenthia inquired. Usagi's face scrunched up in a grimace.

"Well," Usagi winced, "maybe just a little. I figured you'd remember me eventually."

"You could have gone home on your own," Senenthia suggested.

"I'm not that powerful!" Usagi exclaimed.

"Just give it a few cycles," Senenthia advised her. "You'll be the wonderment of the universe."

"Everybody keeps saying that," Usagi looked away, embarrassed.

"Maybe everybody knows something you don't."

"Everybody knows a lot of things I don't," Usagi responded ruefully. That elicited a laugh from Senenthia. It was warm and joyous and Usagi couldn't help but reflect on how favorably it compared to the harsh, cutting laugh she remembered Sailor Galaxia making.

"OK, I have to admit, I did get a little caught up in getting Sailor Valiant settled," the flame-tressed woman said. "After I deliver you home, I'm returning to rehabilitate her planet's environment and make sure she's in the best possible situation." Senenthia paused, in awe of what she was thinking. "I still can't believe the courage and purpose she's displaying in doing this. It's certainly more than I'm doing. Even if she can only bring back a fraction of her people in human form, it's a miraculous undertaking. Perhaps she deserved the title of the strongest senshi in the universe and not me."

"Senenthia," Usagi intervened. "I wish you'd stop being so hard on yourself and forgive yourself."

"Don't feel bad for me, Usagi," Senenthia said, awash in melancholy. "I dug this hole for myself. I'm the one who has to fill it in. Maybe then I can think about forgiving myself." She turned and smiled at Usagi, though it was a sad smile. "The fact that you forgive me is enough to sustain me for now. And, for all the deprivation and hardship I may encounter in my mission to reclaim my soul, it's at least better than the hell I was born into. You may pity me now, Usagi, but I'm far better off than what I was."

Holding her hands over Usagi's head to either side, Senenthia conjured up a golden bubble of energy that surrounded her charge. The bubble began to slowly levitate off of the ground.

"Kiss that man of yours when you get home," Senenthia told her. "And tell him how sorry I am that I caused him so much pain."

With a sweeping gesture, Senenthia Om sent the golden energy bubble up and into space. She lingered planet-side, watching the bubble disappear into the heavens.

"Good-bye, Usagi, my savior and my friend," Senenthia murmured happily. "I hope I'll have the chance to see you after you've ascended. I bet it will be a wondrous thing indeed."

Turning away, Senenthia surrounded herself with another golden bubble and rocketed off, leaving the planet Mau to evolve of its own accord.

In Tokyo, in the apartment she shared with Usagi and Mamoru, Luna stood and watched Mamoru sit on the sofa and brood helplessly. His head was bowed and his hand draped over the back of his neck. He'd been in that position for over an hour. Slowly, over the course of Usagi's absence, his courage and spirit had withered a little more each day. Luna hated watching it, but he hadn't responded to any encouragements she'd offered. If only Usagi would return, for all their sakes - - but for his most of all.

Suddenly, Mamoru jumped to his feet. Instantly Luna was at attention. His head cocked as if he were sensing something. There was a flash of golden light in the center of the room. They turned to it.

"Hi," Usagi said, inexplicably just there. "I'm home."

In a blur of motion, Usagi was suddenly swept up into Mamoru's arms. He bent forward, pressing his mouth to hers, pouring his pent up longing and passion into her. Usagi was startled at first, but warmed quickly to the kiss and folded her arms around his neck. The embrace lingered, radiating warmth throughout the room. Luna smiled, allowing herself a kittenish shiver as she vicariously enjoyed it. Finally they parted, Mamoru staring at Usagi, drinking her in.

"Wow!" Usagi giggled breathlessly, wide-eyed and flustered. "I should leave more often!"

"Are you all right?" Mamoru asked, almost pleaded to know.

"I'm wonderful!" Usagi cackled. "Let's do that again!"

"Usagi!" Luna interjected sternly, though secretly she was as giddy as Usagi was. "Indulge us by acting your age, if only for a little while."

That brought them back to earth. Usagi folded in against her husband's chest and Mamoru held her close.

"I'm all right," she assured them both. "I'm sorry I worried you both. And I promise I'll tell you everything that happened. But could you just hold me for a while, Mamo-Chan? I think that's what I missed most of all."

Mamoru complied happily. As Usagi snuggled in her comfort zone, she considered the lives Senenthia Om and Sailor Valiant had come from and the roads they each were traveling toward their own visions of redemption. And she concluded that she was a very, very lucky woman indeed to have the family she did, the friends she did and the life she did. Perhaps if they'd had what she had, they wouldn't be on the paths they were on now. Perhaps, if she'd suffered through what they'd suffered . . .

No. Usagi didn't even want to go there - - not even in "what if".

* * *

The phone rang. Mamoru and Usagi, in the midst of a passionate embrace in bed, sighed in mutual frustration. Usagi began to reach for it.

"Don't answer it," Mamoru whispered, nuzzling her neck.

"It might be important," Usagi argued.

"More important than this?" he asked and nibbled on her.

"Stop that!" Usagi giggled. "If I don't get it, Luna will."

"Good. It gives her a reason to stay here," Mamoru replied and nibbled again. Usagi giggled again and picked up the phone.

"Hi, Princess," her father said over the phone. Reflexively Usagi clenched the sheets up to her chest, even though he couldn't see her.

"Hi, Daddy!" Usagi squeaked in surprise. Mamoru stopped nibbling.

"You sound strange, Princess. Did I interrupt something?"

"No!" Usagi gasped. Mamoru grinned devilishly and began nibbling again. "Stop that!" she hissed.

"Is someone with you?" Kenji inquired.

"Just Mamo-Chan," Usagi responded too quickly.

"Oh," Kenji said. He paused a moment. "Ohhhhh! I'm sorry, Princess. I'll call back."

"No, Daddy, it's OK. What did you need?"

"I just wanted to give you the good news. I've got a new job."

"You do? With," Usagi began to blurt out. Quickly Mamoru covered her mouth.

"With a marketing firm that handles publicity for celebrities," Kenji informed her. "I've already gotten to photograph Sailor Moon and the Senshi. They even tell me she recommended me to them."

"Well, she must have liked your pictures in Tokyo Shimbun," Usagi said coyly. Mamoru smirked at her.

"I guess," Kenji responded. "And the firm liked my work enough to offer me a position. It's more money, less stress and a lot more creative."

"You see, Daddy, it all worked out," Usagi told him.

"Yes it did," Kenji replied. "It amazes me how lucky I've been in my life. Well, I'll let you get back to, um, your husband. Let us know if you two want to stop over on Sunday. Your mother will fix up something special."

"It's a date," she beamed and hung up.

"Making dates with strange men?" Mamoru asked.

"That was Daddy," Usagi told him, forgetting he already knew. "He got the job with the firm that represents the senshi."

"And all because of you," Mamoru smiled. "Once more, you're everybody's hero." Lightly he stroked her throat with his hand. "I think the hero deserves a reward."

"Oh boy, I'm going to like this!" Usagi squealed as Mamoru leaned in to kiss her. Then their bodies molded and the world and all its troubles were forgotten.

CONCLUSION


End file.
